


Pull The Curtains Back (for the show must go on)

by destroyerofhearts



Series: Camelot High [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Magic, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Beauty and the Beast, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Get Together, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Musical, Pining, Slow Burn, Swearing, dramateacher!Merlin, historyteacher!Arthur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-08-28 10:04:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 43,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8441443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destroyerofhearts/pseuds/destroyerofhearts
Summary: Arthur blamed Lance. It was his incredibly mobile and fertile sperm at fault here. If it weren’t for Gwen being pregnant, they would have been co-directing the school musical. Instead, he was stuck with Merlin.

  
    In which the Merlin cast are teachers, there’s a lot of UST, and Merlin and Arthur have to learn to get along so that Camelot High’s production of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ isn’t a goddamn mess.





	1. Beauty and the Beast

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to this chaptered fic! I really wanted to do a teacher AU, and this idea came to me, entirely based on the production that I helped with back in my high school days (which was Beauty and the Beast, and that’s why I’m using it because all the songs are ingrained in my head. Still. Almost three years on.) My history teacher and drama teacher would co-direct, so hopefully you can see where I’m coming from here. The process is based on how they do it, but there could be inaccuracies so I'm sorry about that.
> 
> Once again, this work hasn’t been beta’d so all mistakes and ‘Australianisms’ are mine. I’ve probably used the Australian school system a bit, so if there’s anything that confuses you, just shoot me a question. 
> 
> Character’s belong to the BBC and Shine, and the musical belongs to Disney.

Camelot High School was known for three things; their history program, their drama program, and their phenomenal musical productions.

If you ever met Uther Pendragon, the headmaster of Camelot, you wouldn’t think it. But the man was fond of his history, and anything with dramatics. (Despite his prickly exterior, he did have a bit of a soft heart).

Arthur Pendragon, Uther’s son, was proud to say that of the three things Camelot was known for, he was a part of two of them. He was the Modern History co-ordinator for the senior grades, and he took two modern history classes, as well as 3 general history classes for the younger grades.

Arthur had also been known to be heavily involved in the school musicals. In previous years he had both co-directed and stage managed the performances. They had done musicals like ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, ‘The Wizard of Oz’, and ‘The Boyfriend’.

However, Arthur couldn’t deny how ecstatic he was about the next musical that him and Gwen (drama teacher, Disney enthusiast, and musical director extraordinaire) were directing. For ages, they had been talking about doing the Disney musical 'Beauty and the Beast'. It was one of their favourites, however it was more on the expensive side and Uther had always been reluctant to let them do it. However, after many years of hassling his father for the funding required, they finally had the chance to do the musical! Arthur and Gwen were both ecstatic when they were told the news, and Arthur could not wait for the year to begin.

\---

After coming back from the summer, Arthur had jumped straight into the swing of things. Classes had begun, meaning that his time was being filled with lesson planning and marking of homework. He was also starting to organise all sorts of things for the musical, such as auditions, and the sourcing of props, costumes and how they were going to do the sets. There was a lot to do, and though it always managed to stress him out, it was all a part of the fun. Despite the large amounts of organising that had to be done, it was a creative process too, which Arthur liked. However, he had begun to accept his fate, which was extra early starts in the mornings to plan his lessons, and late afternoon finishes to mark the work of his student’s and organise the musical.

“Afternoon, Arthur,” Lance greeted him cheerily, sitting at the desk on the other side of the narrow prep room, directly behind Arthur. Lance was the other modern history teacher, who was one of Arthur’s good friends and Gwen’s doting husband.

Swinging away from his desk in his wheelie chair, Arthur faced Lance, who, unlike the rest of the teachers, didn’t look completely shit-faced after a week. (It really wasn’t fair).

“Why on Earth are you so happy on a Monday afternoon?” Arthur asked, unable to repress a scowl.

Lance shrugged. “Just...things,” he sighed. “Classes went well today. The sun is shining, but it’s not overly hot. Life in general,” he beamed, making Arthur want to throw up.

“Good for you,” he mumbled sarcastically in reply, turning back to his desk, prepared to ignore the cheery sunbeam that was Lance. It was too early in the week for this, honestly.

“How’s your new modern history class coming along?” he asked, keeping his eyes firmly on his laptop and his work.

“They’re a good bunch, from the few lessons we’ve had now. Really keen to learn about The French Revolution.”

“That’s good to hear,” Arthur replied.

“What about you? How have your classes been so far?”

Arthur shrugged. “Fine. The usual. The World Wars are interesting enough to the lower grades, and my senior modern class seem content with learning about the Belgian Congo. Unfortunately, all the girls keep badgering me about what the musical is going to be. It’s going to be bloody fantastic once Gwen and I sort out all the messy details and announce auditions at the end of this week.”

At that, Lance seemed to go quiet. “Has Gwen not spoken to you yet?” he asked timidly.

Arthur turned to him, frowning. “Er, we’ve been emailing each other details, but I’m yet to meet with her before we make the official announcement.”

Lance nodded, looking thoughtful. “Right. Ok. Hm.”

With that, he took off rather quickly, leaving Arthur in his wake without so much as a ‘goodbye’. Arthur sighed. As much as he loved the guy, he didn’t think he’d ever be able to understand Lance.

\---

Arthur had always thought that Monday’s were the worst part of the school week. After two days of lie-ins, slacking off on work and just relaxing, Monday mornings were almost always a slap in the face. Almost.

This Tuesday morning was about to change that.

At 7:30 in the morning, Arthur walked into the history prep room to be greeted by, not Lance, but none other than Gwen.

“Ah, Gwen, lovely of you to stop by. I’ve been meaning to talk to you in person about this Friday, as well as I’ve made some adjustments-”

“Arthur, we need to talk,” she interrupted him, a serious undertone in her voice. Stunned at her seriousness, he nodded, and sat down in his office chair.

Very kindly, Gwen pushed a mug of hot coffee into his hands. “Uh, thank you, Gwen. But what-” Arthur started, but once again he was cut off.

“I need to talk to you about...well, me,” she said.

“Oh, uh, ok? You’re scaring me now, Gwen. Everything’s alright?” Arthur asked, slightly concerned at this turn of events. Normally, Gwen was one of the cheeriest people he knew (just like her husband, Lance).

“Yes, Arthur, everything’s fine! Well, it will be. And I swear, I would’ve told you sooner, but it all just happened so fast, and we were on holidays, and then it was straight back into planning...It’s just...I’m pregnant,” she rushed to get out.

Immediately, Arthur jumped out of his seat and flung himself at Gwen, enveloping her in a hug. “Gwen, that’s bloody fantastic! Congratulations, to both you and Lance! I can’t believe it,” he exclaimed, pulling away.

Even though there was a smile tugging at her lips, she was biting her bottom lip in worry. Arthur knew that look all too well. There was obviously a catch, a dreaded ‘but’. Oh, God.

“It’s just that I’m three months along,” she started, sounding a little nervous. “And this means that as soon as Christmas break hits, I’ll be going on maternity leave, through into next year, and definitely during the musical.”

This realisation smacks Arthur hard in the chest. All of a sudden, he can hardly breathe.

“So it means I...I can’t co-direct the musical with you, Arthur. I’m so sorry,” she blurted, looking like she was about to burst into tears. (Arthur wouldn’t be surprised, given the pregnancy hormones and all).

“Oh, Gwen, Gwen, it’s OK,” Arthur soothed her, taking her in his arms once more. She was clearly disappointed and distressed, and Arthur felt terrible too. They worked well together as a co-directing team, and it just wasn’t going to be the same without Gwen.

When they pulled away from the embrace, Arthur noticed that Gwen was biting her lip, again. There was something else on her mind, and now he was even more worried.

“Gwen, what is it?”

She quickly snapped out of her worried expression. “Oh! It’s nothing. Well, it’s something. Look, I’m happy to help you out until I go on maternity leave, but I figured that it’d be easier for you-and the other person as well-if you got another co-director from the very beginning.”

Arthur nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. Who did you have in mind?”

“Seeing as you’re not a drama teacher, I was thinking Merlin,” she said quickly, as if it might soften the blow.

Arthur gaped.

“You...you want me to co-direct with Merlin?” he hissed, before bellowing, “Bloody _MER_ LIN! You expect me to have to put up with that utter imbecile for the rest of the year, and into the next?!”

Gwen winced, but stood firm, despite Arthur’s raging temper tantrum.

“For goodness sake, Arthur, stop making a scene! It’s about time you two learned to get along, anyway. He’s expressed an interest in the past to co-direct one of the school’s musicals, and I figured he deserved the opportunity. And I,” she hesitates, but continues anyway, “I believe that if you two can get over your differences, you could actually make quite a good team.”

“There is no way in hell that I am working with that imbecile,” Arthur growled. “I would rather work with anyone else, even Morgana if I bloody well had to, just not him!”

Gwen grabbed his hand and ran her thumbs along his palm, trying to calm him down. “Arthur, please. Would you at least think about it?”

As she said that, she gave him her best puppy dog eyes. Arthur had no choice but to cave. (The lady was pregnant, after all).

“Fine, fine, I’ll think about it. But no promises,” he grumbled reluctantly.

She gave him a soft smile. “Thank you, Arthur. Please, do.”

With that, she left the prep room.

Arthur collapsed back into his chair, and hunched over his desk, burying his head in his hands. “Oh, fuck, what on Earth am I going to do?”

\---

Later that day, when Lance walked into the prep room, Arthur turned to him and said, “This is all your fault, you know.”

Arthur blamed Lance. It was his incredibly mobile and fertile sperm at fault here. If it weren’t for Gwen being pregnant, they would have been co-directing the school musical. Instead, he was stuck with Merlin.

“Wha’s my faul?” he asked whilst chewing his pen.

“I have no choice but to co-direct with Merlin thanks to the fact that you’ve impregnated Gwen.”

Lance frowned. “I don’t get why you’re so worked up about it. And I thought Gwen said you were going to think about it, and that you hadn’t made a final decision yet.”

Arthur just sighed. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I? As much as I hate to admit it, Gwen is right. I need someone from the drama department working with me. Unfortunately, that person is Merlin.”

“It’s not as big of a deal as it might seem to be, Arthur. Merlin’s a nice person, y’know, and maybe you should try to get to know him?” Lance questioned him.

Arthur shrugged. “Perhaps. But it hasn’t worked out in the past, and I don’t think it’ll work out anytime soon.”

\---

Naturally, the feud between Merlin and Arthur had a long backstory.

It all began five years ago, when Merlin first came to Camelot as a student-teacher. He was in his final year of studying, and working under Gaius, the drama teacher who, since then, has retired and left.

On that same day, Arthur had been fairly tired and cranky. The previous week had been filled with many tedious hours of marking essays and exams, and only last night his father had called up to scold him about his conduct, or goodness knows what. It was likely that he hadn’t had enough caffeine that morning, either. Naturally, he was crabby, and not up to making smart decisions.

The thing was, Merlin didn’t quite look like a student teacher when Arthur first saw him. Rather, with his long, gangly limbs, large ears and shaggy haircut, he looked like an actual student. He had been sat in the administration building, waiting for Gaius to come along and take him to the drama department. No one else had been around when Arthur walked into the administration block, not even one of the receptionists, so it was an honest mistake. Really.

“Who are you?” Arthur had asked, towering over him.

“I’m Merlin. I’m new here,” he replied eagerly, throwing out his arm for a handshake. Arthur couldn’t help but scowl.

“Why aren’t you in uniform?” he snarled.

Merlin looked taken aback. “Er, I didn’t think we had to wear uniforms? You’re not.”

“That’s because I’m a teacher, _Mer_ lin, and you’re not! And for backchat, you get a detention for tomorrow, after school,” he snapped, pulling his detention slips out of his back pocket. “What’s your last name?”

“Sorry, I think there’s been some kind of mistake-” Merlin started, but Arthur cut him off.

“How dare you! For that, another detention. Who the hell do you think you are?” Arthur yelled.

“A student- _teacher_ , and my nephew, Merlin Emrys” a low voice had come from behind them. Arthur whirled around to see Gaius, standing there, his eyebrows so high they could have almost disappeared into his hairline.

“Gaius, I…” Arthur trailed off. He didn’t know what to say, apart from the fact that he’d been an absolute fool.

“If you’ll excuse us, Arthur, I’m already running late, and I must take Merlin away from your... _berating_ presence.”

Merlin slowly stood up, and at that, Arthur realised (mortifyingly enough) that Merlin was slightly taller than him. Going bright red, he stormed off into the staffroom.

Throughout the many weeks that Merlin was doing his prac, Arthur either ignored him, or glared daggers his way. There was no in between. A couple of times, Merlin had tried to strike up conversation, only to have it fall flat when Arthur would respond only in grunts.

In the meantime, Merlin had started to get friendly with the rest of the teaching staff at Camelot (much to Arthur’s displeasure). But it was no matter. After all, he was only here for only a term, maybe a semester. After that, he wouldn’t be seen at Camelot again.

How wrong Arthur had been. (And damn Gaius for retiring).

The next year, Arthur was shocked to see Merlin back in the staff room, chatting excitedly with some of his colleagues. Gwen and Lance, Gwaine, Percy, Leon, Elyan, even Mordred, who had so often fawned over Arthur, was talking to Merlin animatedly. It wasn’t long before Merlin noticed Arthur staring at him and the group, and as soon has he did, his bright expression turned into something resembling a sneer. Arthur was starting to regret the way he had treated Merlin the previous year, seeing as they were now going to be co-workers.

Shit.

However, unlike previously, it seemed like Merlin was out to get Arthur.

One afternoon, Gwen and Merlin had been hovering around in the history prep room with Lance and Arthur. They were discussing something important (Arthur can no longer remember what), but Merlin wasn’t a big part in the conversation. Taking advantage of this, Arthur asked Merlin if he would fetch all of them some coffee.

(It should be noted that when Arthur said he ‘asked’, he actually meant he demanded that Merlin should do so otherwise he would have a word with his father).

Twenty minutes and a furious look on Merlin’s face later, all of them had their coffees.

“So, I was thinking,” Arthur said, pausing to take a sip of his coffee. Almost instantly, he turned his head away from his friends, aimed for his bin, and spat it out.

“Eck! Gross! What the hell, Merlin!? Why did you dump a fuckton of salt in my coffee?” Arthur had exploded.

Merlin merely shrugged, and smirked. “Just thought I’d let you know exactly how I feel about you. Bitter _and_ salty,” he spat, and left the room, Arthur staring after him in shock.

Gwen and Lance looked surprised, and Gwen quickly got up to chase after him.

Lance turned to Arthur. “Er, maybe you should apologise?” he tried.

Arthur was fuming. “Like _hell_ that is happening! This means war,” he raged.

For the next couple of months, the two men would continuously try to out do one another with irritating pranks.

In retaliation, Arthur spilled coffee on Merlin’s favourite shirt.

Merlin struck back by overturning all the desks and chairs in Arthur’s classroom.

Arthur avenged him by tidying up Merlin’s messy and gross desk (which Merlin claimed was an organised mess, but pained the neat freak inside of Arthur. Merlin couldn’t find anything for weeks).

To get him back, Merlin managed to hijack his laptop, open every single file and application using a special key, and then gave his computer a password. Arthur was furious.

Arthur got one of Merlin’s drama classes to gang up against him by bribing them with chocolate. Merlin made a mess of Arthur’s desk and ate his secret chocolate stash. Arthur ruined one of Merlin’s PowerPoints for a lesson. Merlin got Arthur’s senior modern class to cover his classroom entirely with GladWrap. Arthur humiliated Merlin on assembly. Merlin hid the assessment Arthur was planning to send off for moderation. Arthur-

“Enough, enough, ENOUGH!” Uther shouted, silencing the two men who had been sent to his office with the prank war becoming highly ridiculous. They had been bickering for about ten minutes over every single thing that had happened between them.

“This. Ends. Now. I don’t care what your reasoning is, and whether or not you think it is justified, but this needs to stop before it gets even more out of hand,” Uther growled. “Is that clear?”

There were two mumbles of “Yes, sir,” and Uther ordered them out of his office. Since then, the relationship between them had turned into a prolonged ‘detente’, and Arthur believed it would never change. Until now.

\---

“OK, Gwen, I’ll work with Merlin,” Arthur said over the phone that Wednesday, which caused Gwen to squeal very loudly in his ear. Bloody pregnancy hormones.

“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled!” Gwen cried, making Arthur grimace. He highly doubted that.

“Yes, well, ahem, I’d best get back to work. Could you tell him for me? Please?” Arthur begged.

Gwen sighed. “Fine. But you _do_ realise you’re going to have to speak to him in person for the next couple of months.”

“Lucky me,” Arthur mumbled sarcastically, and he could hear Gwen tutting at him over the phone.

“You’d better be on your best behaviour. Don’t make me sic Morgana on you,” she warned him. Arthur shuddered at the threat. It was bad enough he had to deal with Merlin, but he didn’t want to deal with his half-sister Morgana as well.

“Alright, ma’am, threat received loud and clear,” Arthur said, almost wanting to mock salute.

“I’d better be off. Thank you again so much! You won’t regret this,” Gwen squealed again, and then hung up.

“Hmmm, that’s not bloody likely,” Arthur muttered.

\---

Thursday afternoon, Arthur was staying back late to finalise both his classes for tomorrow, as well as the final details required before announcing the musical to the entire student body. Lance and all the other history teachers had vanished much to Arthur’s delight, leaving him to work in complete and utter silence.

Of course, this is Arthur’s life that we’re talking about, and lately there’s always been a catch.

“Pendragon,” a familiar voice greeted him coldly from the door of the prep room. Arthur felt his stomach drop and his blood run cold.

“Emrys,” Arthur replied, turning in his chair to face the man, and trying to put on his friendliest smile (which probably looked more like a grimace).

Merlin walked into the room, eyeing the space carefully, before taking a seat in Lance’s office chair.

“Were you ever going to include me in the beginning preparations, or were you going to continue passing on messages for me through Gwen?” he inquired, watching Arthur with an unreadable look on his face.

“I would have gotten around to it. But it seems you’re here now, so I suppose that’s that,” Arthur quipped, trying to sound as polite as he could.

“Yes, you would have likely gotten around to it after the musical was over,” Merlin retorted. “So get me up to speed. What have you got organised so far, and what are you announcing on assembly tomorrow?”

Arthur cleared his throat and began to list off everything Merlin needed to know. “Auditions are going to be held next week on Thursday and Friday, beginning at lunchtime and going into period four.”

“I have classes during those times,” Merlin pointed out. Arthur just nodded.

“As do I, but I’m giving them to substitute teacher instead.”

At that, Merlin scoffs. “Of course, you prioritise this over your own classes. Charming,” he scowled. Arthur glares daggers at him, which seems to wipe the scowl off of Merlin’s face into something more neutral.

“It’s the only option. I have to factor in for the singing teacher, Mithian, as well as Agravaine, the band conductor. There was no chance all of us would be able to schedule at the same time. I worked around their schedules because it’s easier to replace us temporarily instead of them,” Arthur explained.

Merlin just pursed his lips together and nodded in agreement, resulting in Arthur letting out a breath of air he didn’t even know he was holding. Working with someone who was likely to fight you at every turn was exhausting.

“Based on the timetables, we’ll be doing the young ones on Thursday and the senior grades on Friday. In the case of auditioning for a lead, the student will have to participate in an acting audition, as well as a singing and dancing audition. All the singing auditions will be recorded so that we have something to reference later on when choosing the lead. The dance for the audition will be learned all together on the stage, and then will be divvied up into small groups for us to watch. Two of the senior girls, Grace and Meg, have put together a dance for the audition and they will lead the learning aspect of the dance audition. They’ll also be in the chorus and will be overseeing the main choreography. Sheet music for the song audition will be handed out earlier in the week, and Mithian will run through the song audition before the dance rehearsal takes place.

“For the announcement tomorrow, I will be the one to announce all the details such as what the musical is, when auditions are, as well as where they need to go online to sign up. A sign-up has been created and put on online@camelot, which will help us with names and sorting everyone out. The last thing I will announce is that you’ve taken over as co-director from Gwen, who will then announce her pregnancy,” Arthur finished.

Merlin looked stunned. “I’m impressed, Pendragon. Seems you’ve got everything fairly together after all. But we’ll see how long that lasts.”

Arthur raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Have you been talking to my sister? That sounds exactly like something she’d say.”

Much to Arthur’s surprise, Merlin let out a short laugh. “No, not as much as I’d like to. But I get the feeling talking to her might make this whole experience a bit easier,” he remarked.

Arthur rolled his eyes, and waved his hand. “That’s all you need to know, and once I’ve finished these class lesson plans, I’m out of here. You’re dismissed.”

Merlin let out a huff. “Alright, whatever Pendragon. You win this round. I’ll see you tomorrow for assembly,” he said, walking out of the prep room.

Later, as Arthur was packing up to leave, he noticed a lingering smile on his face. Shaking it away, he locked the door to the room, and headed toward the school gate. Huh. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

\---

Friday morning arrived far too slowly, in Arthur’s opinion, and now he was bouncing from foot to foot, waiting for his turn at the mic on the school’s weekly , which was being held in the large indoor sports centre. At the moment, Uther was droning on with his typical weekly speech, and the entire student body looked beyond bored. As much as he loved his father, Arthur just bloody well wished he would _hurry up_.

In saying that, though, ever since Merlin had now joined as co-director, Arthur couldn’t help but feel very nervous. After all, they had hardly spoken, had never gotten along, so would a musical being directed by them turn out? Or would it turn into a complete disaster?

The sound of clapping shook Arthur out of his reverie, and as Uther walked off stage, Arthur walked out. Silence fell instantly, and Arthur noticed the girls who had suddenly perked up at his arrival. They knew what was about to come.

“Hello, everyone. I’m sure that most of you know why I’m up here, and that is to announce what Camelot’s Spring Musical is going to be. I’m very excited to tell you all that Camelot will be putting on a performance of Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’!”

Arthur paused as a loud applause and excited chatter filled the air.

“The auditions will be held next week, with the senior grades on Friday and the rest on Thursday. Auditions will go through from lunch into fourth period. For the chorus, they will consist of a singing and dancing audition, and for those interested in the lead roles, they will also participate in an acting audition. There is a sign-up for auditions on online@camelot, which you must fill out before auditioning. Next week, sheet music will be passed out to students interested in learning the song prior to the rehearsal and audition, and the dance choreography will be instructed by Grace and Meg, two of our senior students.

“Finally, for some very exciting news, our lovely drama teacher Mrs DuLac, is pregnant! Congratulations!” Arthur cheered, and he led the students into a round of applause.

Once the noise had died down, he continued. “This does mean, however, that Mrs DuLac will no longer be able to co-direct the musical with me. However, we are very grateful and glad to welcome Mr Emrys as the new co-director for the spring musical,” Arthur tried to announce with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, but it seemed to slightly fall flat. However, no one seemed to notice as another loud applause broke out. Arthur turned his body to the left to see Merlin giving a shy wave to the students. Uther looked shocked, and Arthur only hoped he wouldn’t have given the man a heart attack. Morgana seemed stunned, and the rest of the teaching staff looked downright confused.

Arthur sighed, accepting his fate. He was going to be doing a hell of a lot of explaining later that day in the staffroom.

\---

“Arthur Grant Pendragon. What. The. Hell!” Morgana practically pounced on him as soon as first period was over. Arthur groaned. He was still in his classroom, he hadn’t even made it to his prep room, let alone the staffroom, and it had already begun!

“First of all you don’t tell me what the musical is, regardless of the fact that I am your sister _and_ the art co-ordinator, therefore I will need to know in order to start work on the sets. But then you just casually drop in your announcement this morning that Merlin Emrys, the man you have despised since day one, is bloody well co-directing with you? I think you gave Uther a stroke!” Morgana exclaimed.

 “Yes, Morgana, Emrys and I are working together, this was Gwen’s recommendation and I agreed to it,” Arthur explained pointedly.

Morgana shook her head in awe and bemusement. “This is going to go either one of two ways. Either you continue hating one another and the musical suffers for it, or you both get over yourselves, realise how thick you’ve been and eventually hook up,” she smirked.

“Morgana I-hang on a second, hook up? No. No way,” Arthur denied, walking away from her.

“Oh, come on, the unresolved sexual tension is unbearable!” she called out to him.

“There’s no ‘unresolved sexual tension’, that’s our mutual agreement not to continue making the other person’s life hell. Know the difference,” Arthur spat, storming away from Morgana’s smug expression.

On his way out of the classroom, he just so happened to run into the man himself. And Morgana was here too, watching what was going to happen. Good God, could this have gotten any worse?

“Emrys,” Arthur greeted.

“Pendragon,” Merlin responded, crossing his arms, and eyeing Arthur so carefully that Arthur could only imagine he was being sized up.

“Is there something I can help you with?” Arthur asked.

“Yes, actually. I thought we should meet during lunchtime today, and start talking details,” he drawled, looking behind Arthur to see Morgana, who was now approaching them both.

“Well, I’d best be off, boys. Don’t spend too long shagging at your lunchtime meeting,” she laughed, and walked out the door.

At that, the tips of Merlin’s ears went red, and Arthur rolled his eyes. “Bloody hell. Just ignore her, she speaks nonsense most of the time.”

“Will do. So, lunchtime?”

Arthur nodded, forcing a smile. “Yeah. Sure thing. I’ll come to the drama department.”

Merlin smiled too. “Great, well, I’ll see you then.”

Merlin left, and Arthur sighed. So far, things between them hadn’t actually been too bad. While the circumstances weren’t ideal, it just might be bearable. And who knows, perhaps their best musical yet will come out of it.


	2. How Long Must This Go On?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose, and let it out through your mouth. Try to regulate your breathing,” Morgana soothed him, running her fingers through his hair. ___  
>  _“At this rate, I’m going to go grey before I hit my thirties,” Arthur moaned. ___  
> The second instalment, in which Merlin and Arthur not only drive each other mad, but also the people around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo for updating so soon! Thanks if you've been reading so far, and welcome new readers! This is the second part of what should be 5 parts (but could be 6 if I do an epilogue later).  
> This chapter was a slow one to write but I got through it, and I think it turned out ok! But things will definitely be getting more interesting between our two boys in the chapters to come, so stay tuned! ;)

The auditions hadn’t even begun, and already Arthur wanted to _kill_ Merlin.

“MERLIN!” Arthur shouted, storming into the drama prep room, his face bright red and steam practically coming out of his ears.

Merlin was at his laptop and didn't turn around to face Arthur, who was silently fuming behind him.

“What is it, Pendragon?”

Arthur angrily held up a (now crumpled) piece of paper.

“You changed the documents for the audition notes AND you completely mucked up the rehearsal schedule,” Arthur fumed, trying his hardest to contain himself.

“The audition document was outdated, so I replaced it with one that we could do on our laptops instead. Also, the rehearsal schedule was too intense too early, so I went through and cut out afternoon rehearsals prior to December,” Merlin explained calmly, still not looking up at Arthur.

“You could have AT LEAST had the decency to bloody well TELL ME!” Arthur raged, scrunching up the paper into a ball and pegging it at Merlin’s head.

When the paper ball hit him, Merlin finally turned around. “I sent you an email about it two days ago. Auditions are tomorrow Arthur, it had to be done, whether you like it or not.”

“I am the authority here, and you will answer to me!” Arthur exclaimed.

“No, you are not, we’re _co-directing_ , remember? It means we have equal power over the running of the musical. It also means I can override your decisions if I should wish to.”

Arthur just shrieked in frustration and left the room, slamming the door behind him. He couldn’t believe his nerve!

Thus, that is how Arthur ended up storming to the art department, and joining a therapeutic art class in his free period.

The art rooms weren’t your typical classrooms. Yes, there was art hanging all over the walls, but the rooms had couches and beanbags, as well as desks to work at. Arthur had collapsed into the pile of beanbags, and now Morgana sat on the couch, taking him through some meditation.

“Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose, and let it out through your mouth. Try to regulate your breathing,” Morgana soothed him, running her fingers through his hair.

“At this rate, I’m going to go grey before I hit my thirties,” Arthur moaned.

“Shhhh, Arthur, just focus on breathing. That’s it, in, out, in, out.”

Morgana’s year 9 class looked on, both bemused and amused at the unusual brother/sister interaction.

Once Arthur had calmed down a bit, Morgana left him to his own devices as she took her class through a warm-up exercise, and helped them with their latest projects.

“We’ve hardly begun, Morgana, I can’t keep this up until next April. What am I going to do?” Arthur groaned, letting his head fall in his hands. He felt the beginnings of a headache coming on.

“Well, I think if the two of you stopped being so determined to fight one another at every turn, you might find things going much smoother. This is a collaborative process Arthur, you just need to learn how to collaborate,” she replied.

“I already know how to collaborate,” he grumbled.

Morgana tutted. “Let me rephrase that. You need to learn how to collaborate with _Merlin_.”

Arthur huffed. “Fine, fine. But what if he doesn’t want to collaborate with me?”

“I’m sure he does, but you just like to make things difficult,” Morgana said breezily.

“Why is it that I’m to blame?” Arthur asked, annoyed.

“It’s your fault that you decided to take your bad mood out on him on his first day here, and then never apologised for it, always giving him the cold shoulder. It’s called karma, dear brother, and you deserve it,” Morgana told him.

Arthur whimpered, turning around and burying his face in the beanbags. Morgana cackled at him, the unsympathetic witch.

\---

It was only on Thursday that Arthur realised how much he was now dreading the musical, instead of looking forward to it. In previous years, the audition process had filled him with excitement and anticipation. Now he was just nervous and worried.

It was third period, lunch was approaching, and Arthur was very close to losing his patience with his year 10 class. They hadn’t quite grasped the information about the beginning of World War II, and he was starting to lose his patience. The nerves did not help.

“Mr Pendragon, what does this source mean? I can’t figure it out,” one of them whined.

Forcing a smile on his face, he walked over to the young boy who was having trouble. “Can you tell me about the Policy of Appeasement?”

“Yes, is that what it’s about?”

Arthur sighed. “Kind of. Because of the policy, Britain wasn’t doing anything in response to Germany continuing to annex all these countries, in the hopes that it wouldn’t affect them and turn out fine. But the reality was that it would eventually catch up to them, which is the point being made in the cartoon. Do you think you can figure out the rest on your own?”

The boy nodded. “I think so. Thanks, Mr Pendragon.”

As Arthur walked away, the bell for lunch rang. He was somewhat conflicted; thankful that his torturous class was over, but dreading auditions.

Grabbing his laptop bag, and ensuring all the papers he needed were in there, he left the classroom as quickly as he could, heading for Camelot’s Performing Arts Centre (or, as everyone called it, the PAC). From a distance, he could already see people piling in to the large auditorium, and despite the circumstances, his heart leapt with joy. Seeing the students so enthusiastic delighted him.

 ---

12 years ago Uther had decided that, with the grand success of the musicals Camelot was putting on, a grand auditorium should be built in order for the drama department and the musicals themselves to grow and evolve to become better. The auditorium had consisted of around 500 seats, all of which faced a large stage, equipped with lighting tresses and high end sound equipment. The sections that contained chairs were all held up by a strong metal frame; they were able to fold up, leaving a large area for indoor sports or other drama activities to take place in. Within the large auditorium were a limited amount of classrooms and rehearsal rooms for the drama and music departments of Camelot. 

Since then, the PAC had been renovated the previous year, making it far posher. The seated sections were no longer able to fold up, but there were more seats, around 600, and they looked like fancy cinema chairs. Both the music and drama department had expanded facilities. To the right and behind the stage were the drama classrooms, and to the left and underneath the seating were the music rehearsal rooms. There was no doubting that it was Camelot's greatest asset, with many dance school's and theatre groups begging and paying large sums to use the rather grand stage. 

Walking into the PAC, Arthur stood at the top of the stairs, watching as students further down mingled and chattered excitedly. The numbers were already large, which was both a good and bad thing. Good, because it meant they would have their choice for leads and chorus members. Bad, because there would be many others they’d have to say no to, and wouldn’t be able to be involved unless it was through working backstage.

It wasn’t long before he spied Merlin waving at him to get his attention. He was standing on the stage, with Mithian and Agravaine, ready and waiting to begin. Arthur made his way down the stairs, pushing himself through groups of energized students, to eventually join them.

“Are we ready to begin?” he asked as soon as he reached them.

“Almost. Just waiting for the sound system to be working, then we’ll be good to go,” Mithian told him, smiling politely. Agravaine gave a small smile as well, only Merlin didn’t react.

“Great. Mithian and Agravaine, you will be in charge of the singing auditions, and myself and Merlin along with Grace and Meg will watch the dance auditions. Then we’ll do the acting auditions later on our own, though they shouldn’t take long as these are the younger grades, and there’s only one lead they could take. Presumably you will be in the music room recording all the singing auditions, and we’ll be in the drama room. Got it?”

All of them nodded, and so the process began.

\---

“My hand is about to fall off…” Arthur whined, trying to shake the cramp out of it. To his right, Merlin smirked.

“Well, I told you updating the process of writing notes during auditions to be on our laptops was the best way to do it, but did you listen? Nooo,” Merlin lectured, making Arthur roll his eyes.

“Yeah, whatever. I’ll type these notes up tonight, and do the rest on the laptop tomorrow.”

So far, they were nearly at the end of the dance auditions, all of which had taken an hour. A small group of about four or five would come into the drama classroom, do the routine, and then leave promptly, while both Merlin and Arthur would finish taking notes. Then it would repeat.

“And don’t forget, we have the acting auditions after this,” Merlin sing-songed, making Arthur groan.

“I hate you,” he grumbled, as the next lot of young girls walked in. Meg pressed the play button on the laptop, and the introduction would blurt out through the small speakers.

The girls would dance the routine (and they did it rather well, much to Arthur’s relief. He was a bit over watching some of the student’s flail about for the minute of the audition), and then he was back to writing notes.

“Well, that was the last group,” Merlin announced, standing up and stretching his arms and legs. Arthur stayed hunched over in his chair, scribbling some final details.

“By the way…” Merlin started, prompting Arthur to look up. Uh oh. There was something in that tone of voice that he did not like. He was after something from Arthur, and knowing Merlin, it probably wasn’t good.

“Spit it out, Merlin,” he scowled.

“Well, you see…for the acting auditions, Grace has kindly offered to play Belle for the boys’ acting, however, we need someone to be the Beast for the girls’ auditions. And seeing as you know the script well and already fit the part…” he trailed off, waiting for Arthur’s response.

“I can’t believe you…” Arthur growled.

“See? You’re already in character! Perfect choice,” Merlin joked, prompting Arthur to give him his best death stare.

\---

Arthur cleared his throat, glancing at the script, and then at the timid young girl, who was looking rather pale….

“I thought I told you to come down for dinner!” Arthur roared, and he could almost swear the girl was shaking.

“I…I’m n..not hungry!” she squeaked.

“I am the master of this castle and I’m telling you to come to dinner,” Arthur growled.

“A..and I’m telling y-you….I’m n-not hungry!” she just managed to get out.

“You’re hungry if I say you’re hungry,” Arthur grumbled.

“D-don’t be ridiculous!” she squeaked again.

 “What did you say?” he hissed, and the girl seemed to jump.

“Y-you can’t go around ordering p-people to be h-hungry. It doesn’t w-work like that!”

“I can!” Arthur retorted.

“B-besides, it’s rude!” she tried raising her voice slightly.

“Oh, rude is it?” Arthur asked sarcastically. “Then how about this, if you don’t come down to dinner, I will drag you by the hair!” he raged, almost making the girl run from the room.

“Uhh, thank you, Kelly, you can go now,” Merlin intervened, and the girl practically fled out the door.

Arthur sighed, then caught Merlin looking at him funny. “What?”

He grimaced. “Do you think you could tone it down? Just a little?”

“Not my audition, _Mer_ lin.”

\---

And that was only day one.

The second afternoon of auditions was going to (hopefully) be more enjoyable. Arthur now knew exactly what they were doing, and the auditions were for the older grades, and more specifically, for the actual leads.

When Arthur pulled out his laptop, Merlin raised an eyebrow. “I see you’ve made a wise decision today.”

“Shut up, Merlin.”

The dance auditions began, and Arthur realised that, despite his many faults, Merlin really had been onto something with this system he had typed up. It was easy and effective to use (not that Arthur would ever admit it to him).

The dance auditions passed with little hassle, and then it was on to acting. This was the first of the two important auditions for the leads. Dancing was less important for the leads, but the acting and singing was crucial.

This time, Merlin was the one doing the acting (much to Arthur’s relief. He believes Merlin got tired of him roaring at and scaring every girl who came through). Arthur had never seen the man act. Yes, he had been in plays whilst he’d been teaching at the school, but given the rivalry, he had never gone to support him.

The first girl, Cat, had come in and was standing readily across from Merlin.

“You may begin,” Arthur nodded.

Merlin took in a deep breath and began. “I thought I told you to come down to dinner!” he roared, but unlike Arthur, there was some more…emotion there, more than just rage. He walked toward Cat as she spoke her line.

“I’m not hungry!” Cat fired back.

“I am the master of this castle and I’m telling you to come to dinner,” Merlin growled, but with much less ferocity than Arthur had done.

“And I’m telling you, I’m not hungry!” Cat exclaimed.

“You’re hungry if I say you’re hungry,” Merlin said, lowly and fiercely.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” she rolled her eyes.

 “What did you say?” Merlin quietly growled.

“You can’t go around ordering people to be hungry. It doesn’t work like that!”

“I can!” Merlin quipped.

“Besides, it’s rude!” Cat snapped.

“Oh, rude is it?” Merlin said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Then how about this, if you don’t come down to dinner, I will drag you by the hair!” he roared. Cat just about broke her focus, but he wasn't focussed on that. Though he would never admit it because it was bloody Merlin for crying out loud, Arthur was rather...impressed.

“Thank you, Cat,” Arthur said, prompting Cat to leave the room. Bloody hell. He knew Merlin had to be a decent actor, but honestly, he really was something else.

\---

 After everyone had left, Arthur caught up with the other three, who were huddled together, discussing something privately.

“How did the singing auditions go?” Arthur asked.

Mithian flashed him a smile. “Well, Arthur, really well. Lots of good options for the leads. We were just talking to Merlin about it.”

Agravaine nodded in agreement. “Yes, we’ve also got a fair few options for the band too. I think it’s all going to come together nicely. Merlin gave some good suggestions.”

At that, Arthur felt a pang of…hurt? Rage? Jealousy? This was his musical, it had been his dream to do, and now Merlin was coming in and taking over, which ground Arthur’s gears (more than Merlin already did on his own by just existing).

“We were also talking about watching back all the singing auditions on the weekend to come up with a final decision. Are you free tomorrow during the day?” Merlin asked him.

Arthur sighed. “Yeah, I should be. Where will we meet?”

“My house,” Merlin stated bluntly, and then turned back to the other two. “I’m glad though that you reckon Casey is a contender because she has such great acting ability-“

“Ahem, well, I suppose I shall see you tomorrow,” Arthur interrupted briefly. He left, feeling ignored and miserable.

\---

Saturday came around all too soon, and with it, a raging hangover. While drinking away one’s emotions had been a smart idea at the time, Arthur was greatly regretting it. And there was a good chance he would be listening to off tune singing all day. Yippee.

Taking some aspirin to sooth the headache, he groaned when his mobile rang loudly, startling him.

Arthur picked it up, seeing that the number calling was an unknown. He answered.

“Hello?”

“Arthur?” a tinny voice asked.

“Merlin?” Arthur replied with disbelief. “How did you get my number?”

“Morgana,” he responded, sounding unamused.

“Of course, I shouldn’t have expected anything less,” Arthur sighed. “What can I help you with?”

“Well I realised I never actually gave you my address. Or a time. For today. Watching the auditions.”

“Oh.” Arthur hadn’t even noticed.

“Uh. Yeah. Anyway, it’s 22 Falcon Drive. And we’re meeting at 10:30. Just so you know.”

“Ok. Thanks.”

“Ok. Bye.” Merlin instantly hung up.

Well, if that hadn’t been the most stinted phone conversation ever. Arthur resolved to the fact that he will never understand Merlin (and doesn’t plan to understand him anytime soon).

He checked his watch. Bugger, it was already quarter to 10. He’d better get moving. The last thing he wanted to do was show up late.

\---

Arthur was still spectacularly late. Not that it mattered. From the outside, he could hear friendly chatter and laughter, but that mood was immediately killed when he arrived.

“Arthur,” Merlin greeted him at the door.

“Merlin,” Arthur nodded, and then followed him into the house, where Mithian and Agravaine were sitting around a TV screen. A laptop was hooked up to it and had all the song audition files on it.

“Shall we begin?” Merlin asked sharply.

Everyone responded with a nod, and thus, Merlin began playing the recordings.

\---

“Lauren would be best for the part, Merlin, you don’t know what you’re talking about!” Arthur argued. Merlin was wrong! He wasn't choosing the right person for the most crucial role!

It was a couple of hours later now, and they had gone through all of the singing footage, and they had also taken Mithian and Agravaine’s notes. Now, they were discussing who should play what part. But when it comes to Merlin and Arthur…well, it’s never much of a discussion, rather more a fight.

“You’re mad, you’re all mad, Joanna would be far better for Belle!” Merlin bit back, scowling.

“Oh, ok, the next thing you’ll tell me is that you’d rather not have Jamie as Lumiere,” Arthur grumbled.

“Yes, actually, I think he’d be far better as Cogsworth!” Merlin snapped.

Between them, Mithian and Agravaine just sighed, watching the two of them bicker. At this rate, a decision would never be made on who will play what part.

“Who do you have in mind for Lumiere then?”

“I was thinking Dan could do it, actually. He’d be better for that part than Jamie, who would be good for Cogsworth,” Merlin retorted.

“Now you’re the one talking crazy! I think it should-“

“Maybe you two should sleep on it a couple of nights,” Mithian cut in hastily, “and then come Monday, you can make that decision. Get some input as well from us, or Gwen, if you’re still having trouble.”

“Fine,” Merlin snapped.

“Fine,” Arthur growled.

With that, Arthur left rather quickly.

\---

“He’s doing my head in,” Arthur moaned to Morgana over the phone that evening.

“Hmmm, I think he’s good for you. Doesn’t let you bully him around,” Morgana replied.

“You’re my sister, you’re meant to be on my side,” Arthur whined.

“Half-sister, therefore I only have to be on your side half of the time,” she retorted. “Besides, this is going to be a painful few months if I’m going to have to listen to you talking about Merlin at every turn. ‘Oh Morgana, Emrys drives me mad. Morgana I can’t stand to listen to him, I just want to snog his face off. Morgana-‘"

“Oi, that’s enough,” Arthur snapped, interrupting her bad impression of him. “And I do not want to be in Emrys’ presence more than I already have to be, let alone want to ‘snog’ him,” Arthur spat.

“Whatever you say, dear brother. Now, I have some work still to be done, I must get going,” Morgana told him.

“Wait! Wait. I wanted to ask you. Would you be free sometime next week or the week after to meet for a discussion about the sets?”

Morgana paused, before replying. “I suppose so. Not that I have much of a choice, do I?”

“Hmm, not really,” Arthur quipped.

“Let me know what time and I’ll do my best to be there. Goodbye, darling,” she finished, hanging up.

Arthur sighed. Nothing was going to plan, not the way he wanted it to be.

\---

“I still think Joanna,” Merlin said to him first thing Monday morning in the staffroom, as Arthur was making himself a coffee.

“Merlin, I need caffeine before we discuss this,” Arthur said, something ugly and angry simmering underneath his tone of voice.

“Fine. But we will discuss this?”

“Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll join you,” Arthur sighed. It was far too early to be dealing with Merlin.

Once his coffee was made (and he made it stronger than normal, because he realised he was going to need it), he sat down with Merlin at one of the tables.

“So, Joanna,” Arthur started.

“Arthur, she’s ideal. She looks the part, her voice is perfect for the role, and she’s a great actress. I can’t see anything wrong with that, can you?” he questioned him.

Arthur shrugged. “No. Which was why I was thinking we cast her as Babette.”

Merlin’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets. “That’s crazy! Why would you waste that kind of talent on such a small role, as the feather duster, no less!?” he protested.

“Joanna was also a fantastic dancer, if you didn’t forget. We need a good dancer for the role of Babette. She’s perfect,” Arthur reasoned.

“Nope. I won’t accept this. You’re doing a great injustice,” Merlin rolled his eyes.

“What’s this great injustice my brother is doing?” a dreaded voice came from behind Arthur. All Arthur could do was groan. He hadn’t had enough coffee to deal with both Merlin _and_ Morgana!

“We’re discussing the casting of the lead roles. His opinion is wrong,” Merlin explained.

“It’s an opinion, Merlin, it can’t be wrong. And besides, you haven’t heard my case. I think Lauren is better suited for the role. Her strengths are in singing and acting, but she can still dance, which is what we need for our Belle. I personally think she’s better suited than Joanna.”

“Morgana, tell him to stop being an ass,” Merlin whined.

“God, not you too. I’m done. I really don’t want to know,” Morgana sighed, walking away.

“Alright, tell me you think that Jamie as Cogsworth and Dan as Lumiere is a good choice.”

Arthur sighed. “I think it should be the other way round.”

“No. No way. Dan will be better as Lumiere over Jamie. Come on. Surely you must see that?” Merlin begged.

“Maybe we should talk about someone we actually agree on,” Arthur drawled.

“Fine, fine. Miranda should be Mrs Potts, don’t you think? She has the right, sweet kind of voice for the role, it’ll be perfect. Please say yes to that at least!” Merlin pleaded.

Hesitating a moment, Arthur reluctantly nodded. Merlin was right, and he couldn’t think of any other suitable candidates for the role.

“Oh, great! One down, a large number left to go….” Merlin groaned.

This was going to be a long week.

\---

“LUMIERE!”

“NO, COGSWORTH!”

“ARE YOU MAD!? HE SHOULD BE LUMIERE!”

It was only a matter of time before a screaming match began. However, it was still a Monday morning, and only after the first period of the day. Now, they were yelling at each other of the choice of who was going to play Lumiere and Cogsworth.

“You know VERY WELL that Jamie is FAR better off as Cogsworth!” Merlin growled.

“Boys, boys!” Gwen interrupted, walking into the room.

“WHAT!” they both snapped. Gwen looked admonished, and instantly their expressions turned apologetic.

“Sorry, Gwen,” they both mumbled, looking down at their feet.

“What on Earth is it with you two? Why can’t you just have a simple civil discussion, without picking a fight!? Arthur? Merlin?” Gwen exclaimed.

“He started it,” Merlin sulked, prompting an “Oi!” from Arthur.

“I don’t care who started it, I just want it ended! What’s the issue, hm?” Gwen asked, standing firm.

“We can’t decide on who to cast in which role,” Arthur told her sheepishly.

“Really? That’s why you’re yelling loud enough to tear the whole school down!? I expected better from the both of you!”

Neither of the two men spoke a word, choosing to look rather ashamed instead.

“Now,” Gwen started, sounding much less furious, “seeing as the two of you can’t seem to sort out your differences for a second, I’m going to help you both with finalising your cast. But after this, you’re on your own, and you will have to learn how to get along. Understood?”

“Yes, Gwen,” they mumbled.

“Good. Ok, good. Let’s talk this through then,” she said, beckoning for them both to take a seat.

\---

“So, are we satisfied?” Gwen asked later that afternoon. During all break times, the three of them had met and sorted out their cast. Gwen had managed to quell any further arguments between the two of them.

“Hmph. I guess so,” Arthur reluctantly agreed. Merlin just nodded.

Gwen sighed. “Can I just say that the two of you both made excellent individual choices, and those choices combined have turned into a brilliant cast, believe me. I know you’re both still…reluctant, but if you try, and I mean _really_ try,” Gwen emphasised, looking at Arthur, “to work with one another, you would have the potential to create the best musical this school has ever seen. If I didn’t believe that, I would have never wanted you to be partnered together in the first place. So can you try, please, for me?” she begged them.

They glanced at one another, before looking back at Gwen.

“Yes, yes, we’ll try,” Merlin answered. Gwen’s face burst out into a huge grin, and she pulled them both into a hug.

“Oh, I’m so glad! You two will be wonderful! Thank you both.”

\---

Of course, Gwen didn’t have to know how they would go about ‘getting along’.

Even after deciding the cast, they would still bicker about it occasionally.

“I still think Joanna would have been a better Belle,” Merlin sniped.

Arthur just rolled his eyes. “And Dan should’ve been Cogsworth instead of Jamie, but I guess we’ll have to call it even.”

Merlin harrumphed.

They were having their first meeting with the leads. Even though Arthur was feeling his usual annoyance about Merlin, he was excited to start working with the fantastic group of students who would be responsible for a great portion of the success of the musical.

Once all of the students had seated themselves, Arthur began.

“Welcome! I am delighted to have you on board as the leads for Camelot’s spring musical! Hopefully you are as excited as we are,” Arthur smiled, turning to see Merlin’s reaction. He wore a neutral expression. “Um, anyway. For you guys, you’ll start having singing lessons in order to begin learning the songs, as that is what will take the longest, and in a few weeks we’ll start on dancing and acting rehearsals as well. Is that everything that needs to be said, Merlin?”

Merlin nodded. “Seems like it. Mithian will be taking the singing, and she’ll email you all a timetable that you must stick to, in order for this to work. Is that understood?”

All the students agreed, and then Mithian came out to join them, and speak to the students on her own.

“Now that that’s underway,” Merlin started, “we should start thinking about how we’re doing the sets. I have a couple of ideas.”

Arthur nodded. “Of course. I’ll set up a meeting with Morgana and Gwaine right away.”

\---

The next week the two co-directors met with Morgana, and Gwaine, head of manual arts. They were to be the ones in charge of making sure the sets were put together the way that was necessary for the show.

“So, what are we thinking for the show?” Morgana asked, while Gwaine grunted and nodded.

“Well, we need the town, Belle’s house, the woods, the castle and all its different areas, and a library of sorts. As well as the tavern…” Arthur trailed off. That was a lot of different spaces.

“Well, I think the first thing is to keep the sets themselves simple, and use props to indicate different parts of the town or the castle,” Morgana started.

“I agree,” Merlin said.

“That’s fair. Well, I was thinking keeping it traditional. Large walls, hanging canvases perhaps,” Arthur told them.

“Arthur, that’s madness! We have so many different locations, we need something more durable and flexible than a traditional flat set,” Merlin exclaimed.

Arthur frowned. “Nonsense, this is the best way to do things.”

“I think I’m going to have to agree with Merlin there. It won’t be an easy task if you went traditional. We’re a school, not a professional theatre,” Morgana reasoned.

“They’re right, Princess. You’re bonkers if you think a traditional set is going to work!” Gwaine teased.

“Fine, how do you suggest we do it?” Arthur snapped.

Merlin ignored his bad attitude. “We need something flexible, Gwaine. It needs to be easy to move and transformable. Something on wheels perhaps?” Merlin asked.

Gwaine threw Merlin a cheeky grin. “Lucky for you, I think I have the perfect solution.”

“Oh?”

Gwaine cleared his throat, clearly excited about this idea. “Picture this. Trucks!”

“Wait, what?” Arthur questioned him, confused.

“Not actual trucks, Princess. They’re these boxes on wheels, three sided, all of them the same size so they go together. Look here,” he said, beckoning to a drawing he had done, “you paint each of the sides to be a different set, and during a scene change you turn them so they match the scene. You’d have some students inside and outside the boxes, pushing them around,” Gwaine sounded thrilled.

Merlin beamed. “That’s brilliant, Gwaine! That’ll work perfectly.”

Gwaine just looked smug. “That’s what I thought,” he smirked. “But I don’t know if the boxes will cover all the sets. Not fully, at least.”

“Well, I do have an idea for some of those,” Merlin started, and Arthur rolled his eyes. God, what now?”

“For the forest, we use lighting and a smoke machine. I was also thinking we could maybe use some projections? I was recently at a performance and they used these, like, strips that could put up images, which was very cool and I thought that could work-“

“I still think we should use traditional sets. It’ll be far better, more visually pleasing,” Arthur interrupted, making Merlin glare at him.

“Would you, for once, stop being stubborn and recognise a good idea when you see it? The trucks are bloody brilliant and exactly what we need for a musical of this scale,” Merlin snapped.

“No, actually, I won’t, not for as long as I have to put up with you!” Arthur spat, and then he got up. “Excuse me, I’d best be off,” he said, and practically stormed out of the room.

\---

“Arthur, Arthur!” Morgana called out after him, as Arthur headed to his classroom. He needed to clear his head. Bloody Merlin! Why did he just have to drive Arthur up the damn wall every time they were in each other’s presence.

“Arthur, stop!” Morgana grabbed his arm, and pulled. Resisting, Arthur twisted himself out of her grip, and headed up the stairs to his classroom. He could hear Morgana’s footsteps as she followed.

“We need to talk,” she hissed when she finally reached him, and pulled him into his classroom, shutting the door.

“What the hell, Morgana?” Arthur grumbled when she let go of him.

“I think I should be the one asking that of you, actually. I can’t believe you’d be so rude!” Morgana yelled. “Not just to Merlin, but Gwaine as well! Isn’t your hatred of him going a little too far?”

“I can’t explain it Morgana, he just drives me up the wall,” Arthur shrugged, walking away from her expression of fury and disbelief.

“How long must this go on? Aren’t you through with being awful, lashing out at Merlin’s every move?” she retorted.

He didn’t reply. He didn’t know what to say.

“Why, Arthur?” she asked.

“Why, what?”

“Why do you hate him so?” she challenged him.

“You know why, it all began a fair few years ago, remember?” Arthur rolled his eyes.

“No. No. I refuse to believe that. This is ridiculous. It’s beyond sparring, it’s full out bullying, Arthur!” she snarled. “So why do you, Arthur Pendragon, hate him so much? And don’t give me some daft excuse about a prank war, because that is most certainly not it.”

In all honesty, Arthur didn’t have an answer. Not a true one, anyway. He wasn’t really sure why he hated Merlin, not since the prank war had ended.

“I don’t know, Morgana. I honestly don’t know,” he truthfully answered, looking her straight in the eye.

She folded her arms. “Do you know what I think it is? Why you hate him so much?”

Arthur turned away. “Do I get a choice in whether I want to know?” he asked, sarcasm lacing his tone.

“I think it’s because you see him as a threat, as competition. You don’t like that he’s come in and taken some of the spotlight away from your beloved musical, and you definitely do not like that he is good at it. You hate the fact that he slotted into Camelot with such ease and befriended everyone you like. You hate that he’s smart, funny, talented, and that he is a truly kind person who, despite appearances, does want to get along with you. But most of all,” Morgana paused, “I think you hate him because deep down, you know he’s a better man than you will ever be.”

With a death stare she had perfected over the years, she left the room immediately, slamming the door.

In her wake, Arthur stared, dumbfounded. He slowly moved to his desk, collapsing in his chair, resting his arms on the desk and sinking his head into his heads. This whole thing was a bloody disaster.

“Just let the world be done with me,” he whimpered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and reviews are always appreciated xx  
> Next planned update will most likely be next week...I'll aim for earlier rather than later, but I know I'm going to be a bit busier over the weekend and early next week.  
> Just some fun stuff here: I was talking to my friend, and she was surprised that musicals and drama as a subject was such a big deal at our school. I didn't even realise, but I guess normally it's not really the cool thing to do. But at my school, yeah, it was a pretty big deal (more so with the girls than boys, though!). A lot of people auditioned, even just to be in the chorus. And often, a lot of the 'cool' students would play the leads, or at least be in the musical itself! So, yeah, I thought that was interesting, and I suppose I've structured Camelot very similarly. It is a cool thing to be in the musical at Camelot.


	3. A Change In Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Merlin scowled, and went back to pacing. “No, we need afternoon rehearsals because you’re a…clotpole who can’t put his prejudice aside and work with me!”  
>  “I-I’m sorry, what did you just call me?” ___
> 
> __The third part, in which everyone wants to murder everyone, and Arthur and Merlin finally talk to one another. Like, actually talk._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back lovelies for part 3! Managed to get this up earlier than anticipated, but it turns out this chaptered fic has accidentally ended up with an extra chapter than intended! But don't worry, it will be finished come the end of November. Next update will be at the end of the week. Thanks so far for the support, really appreciate it xx
> 
> Once again, this work hasn't been beta'd. Shoot me a message if something doesn't make sense.  
> Character's belong to BBC and Shine, and the musical belongs to Disney.
> 
> By the way: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA8VHLKYzqTsJHFPIYgDgLm8V7cFW5ctk Beauty and the Beast broadway soundtrack; definitely worth listening to as you read along!

Arthur didn’t apologise to Merlin for the way he treated him. But he did consider Morgana’s words.

There was no denying he was a little jealous of Merlin. He had such a knack, a way, a charm with everyone he met. You couldn’t not like Merlin (unless you were Arthur). He was talented, that was obvious during the audition process. He knew what he was doing, regardless of Arthur’s prior experience.

Was Merlin a better man than he was, though? Well. Arthur was far too proud to ever to agree with a statement like that. (Besides, it wasn’t true. That was just his sister being a typical bitch of a sibling).

Given that Arthur was too proud to apologise, and Merlin too stubborn to try and resolve things, they had to sort out a new arrangement.

This is what happened:

  * They spoke by email only, rarely speaking to one another in person or during rehearsals.
  * Rehearsals were divided up between them: on Monday’s, Merlin took the chorus and Arthur took the leads, on Wednesday’s they would switch, and on Friday’s they would alternate, with Merlin taking rehearsal one week, and Arthur the next.
  * They emailed the art department, manual arts and home economics departments separately, and each department would collaborate and compromise based on their individual wishes.



Arthur thought it was a brilliant solution. But after about two weeks, Morgana was less than pleased.

“Hello, Morgana, I have another idea for the sets-“

“No. No, no, no, I don’t want to hear it!” she snapped, and hung up the phone. Arthur frowned. What the hell? He knew his sister could be moody sometimes, but this was overdoing it.

When he had a free period, he went to her class. Thankfully, it was empty, and she was sat at her laptop working.

“Why did you hang up on me? What I had to say was important.”

Morgana rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure it was. It has been the last dozen times you’ve called me alone. Not to mention Merlin has been doing the exact same thing. My patience with the two of you is running thin,” she snapped.

“It’s not my fault he’s acting like a total…buffoon!” Arthur cried.

“If you hadn’t been a dick to him in the first place, we wouldn’t be in this situation!” she bit out, a scary look in her eye.

Arthur recoiled at the truth there was to her words.

“Sort it out, Arthur. I don’t care what you have to do, suck his dick for all I care, but I cannot live like this. None of us can,” she said.

“Fine, fine, but I definitely draw the line at sucking his dick,” Arthur grumbled, walking out of the room.

\---

It was also (un)lucky that he just so happened to run into Gwaine on his way out.

“Ah, Gwaine, hello,” Arthur called out, only to have him turn and look…well, furious.

“Arthur, what a…surprise,” he muttered.

“Gwaine, I had this idea-“

“No, I don’t want to know. We’re sticking with my idea, and that’s that,” he stated, marching off.

“Wait, hang on! I’m the director, you can’t talk to me like that!” Arthur started.

Gwaine spun around, looking even angrier. “I don’t _care_ if you’re the fucking director. I am sick of you and Merlin ordering me around and making me change my plans almost constantly as though I don’t have classes to teach or a life to go home to. So, I suggest that the both of you get your heads out of your asses and learn to get along before I grab an actual saw from my workshop and murder the both of you!” he growled, storming off instantly.

Maybe…maybe this agreement wasn’t working out so well after all.

\---

Arthur was planning his lessons when Merlin barged into the prep room one afternoon.

“We need to talk.”

Arthur sighed. Yes, they needed to talk, but his lessons were planned yet. He didn’t have the time for this. “What?”

“This isn’t working. What we’re doing. Everything is messy. We’re further behind than we should be,” he stated, pacing up and down the room.

Arthur tapped his pen against his desk, frowning at Merlin. “Yes, I know that. But what are we supposed to do?”

“We have to start afternoon rehearsals, stat,” Merlin said, turning to Arthur.

“You mean, the afternoon rehearsals that you removed because it was too soon? Are you admitting that I was right, _Mer_ lin?” Arthur sneered.

Merlin scowled, and went back to pacing. “No, we need afternoon rehearsals because you’re a…clotpole who can’t put his prejudice aside and work with me!”

“I-I’m sorry, what did you just call me?”

Merlin paused. “A clotpole.”

“What the hell is a ‘clotpole’?” he asked.

“In two words?”

“Sure,” Arthur sighed.

“Arthur Pendragon,” he replied, smug.

“Alright, that’s it, get out,” Arthur growled, getting up and pushing Merlin out the door. “You can email me later about afternoon rehearsals when I’m not planning my lessons.”

“Fine, fine,” Merlin grumbled, leaving fairly quickly.

As soon as he was gone, Arthur put his head in his heads. “For fuck’s sake,” he mumbled. He didn’t want to be spending more time with Merlin. This whole arrangement had backfired.

\---

After having brought out Arthur’s original rehearsal schedule, they sorted out the afternoon rehearsals, which soon started running. The lunchtime rehearsals still continued as they had been with the two director’s split up, but they knew they had to do the afternoon work together. Otherwise they were going to be murdered by Morgana. Or Gwaine.

(None of their colleagues would ever admit it, but they had placed bets on who would be the first to break out of Morgana and Gwaine. They had also made a bet even more secret; when the UST will snap the two men and cause them to finally get together.)

The first afternoon rehearsal they planned to run the castle scenes with the leads. Blocking would happen for the first time, as well as feedback to the students on how they were going so far.

\---

“They should be on the left of the stage, from our perspective, Arthur.”

“No, the right would make far more sense. Then they can move to the Beast’s chair and it’ll show that the castle is larger than it may appear.”

Merlin just stared at him. “It’s a stage, not an actual film or castle, Pendragon.”

“I still think the right,” Arthur replied.

\---

“Dan, I think you should tone it down a little with the...uh…hip movements,” Arthur told Dan, the student playing Lumiere.

“No, no, it’s fine as it is. The more exaggerated, the better. Keep it as it is,” Merlin cut in.

Arthur scowled.

\---

“Lauren, it would be good if you stayed on the bed for the majority of ‘Home’,” Merlin started.

“Actually, I think it would be better if you got up and moved around, expressing your emotions through movement. It’ll be more effective,” Arthur quipped.

Merlin mumbled something under his breath that Arthur didn’t quite catch, but sounded distinctly like ‘clotpole’.

\---

“I can’t do this, Morgana,” Arthur whined that evening over the phone.

“Neither can I. I’m sick of listening to this, honestly!” she whined back at him.

“We can’t seem to agree on anything. He’s always defying my suggestions, and all his suggestions are shit in my opinion-“

“Are they actually shit, or do you just like creating conflict because there’s no way in hell that you can be wrong to the one person you don’t like?”

“They’re actually shit,” he complained.

“Oh, I’m sure they are,” she drawled.

\---

At the next afternoon rehearsal, the stakes were upped. Merlin had decided (without Arthur’s opinion) to do the mob scene and battle, seeing as it was going to be one of the hardest scenes to co-ordinate.

“OK, so once everyone moves off stage, Abby, Jess, Cathy, if you can come on please so I-“

“That’s not going to work,” Arthur interrupted.

“Excuse me?” Merlin turned to face him.

“You’re doing it in the wrong order,” Arthur shrugged.

“Fine. Do you want to co-ordinate it then, your majesty?” he snapped at Arthur.

“Fine, I will!”

The very confusing battle scene very quickly turned into a confusing mess. Arthur had people running all over the place, and nobody seemed to know what they were doing.

“Pendragon, I think-“ Merlin started.

“No, Emrys, I’ve got this,” Arthur brushed him off.

“Er, no, you don’t. You need to-“

“I said, I’ve got it,” he bit out.

“No, you haven’t, it’s still too messy!”

“It’s fine!” Arthur shouted.

Merlin was stunned. “Shall we watch it and see?” he challenged him.

(It was not fine. Arthur sulked as Merlin reorganised the scene).

\---

“I really don’t want to know, Arthur,” Morgana said when she answered his call.

“But-“

“Nope. I don’t want to hear it.”

“He took over! Didn’t let me do anything, changed everything I came up with!” Arthur exclaimed.

Morgana hummed. “He told me you tried to put together the running order of the battle scene.”

“Yeah, so-“

“He also said it was a confusing shit pile of a mess,” she cut in.

“I’m going to murder him,” he grumbled.

“Not if I murder the both of you first,” Morgana chirped, sounding way too happy about the prospect.

Arthur hung up.

\---

“Have you started on the art for the set designs?” Merlin asked as he barged into the history prep room. Arthur was packed up and just about to leave.

“Can this not wait until tomorrow? I have to go home to make dinner because-“

“No, it can’t wait, show me what you’ve done,” Merlin snapped.

Arthur rolled his eyes, digging into his bag to find his rough drafts. “Look, it’s still rough, I’m planning to consult with Morgana before we start finalising. She’s coming up with her own ideas as well.”

He handed the sheets of paper to Merlin, who eyed them with great suspicion. Slowly, he went through them one by one, spending a considerable amount of time looking over each individual drawing.

“Merlin, I really don’t have the time-“ Arthur started, but was cut off by Merlin holding up a hand and shushing him.

After another minute of silence, Merlin blurted out, “I don’t like them.”

By this point, Arthur was fuming. “They’re rough, Merlin, and Morgana-“

“I’d suggest you leave the designs up to Morgana, hm?” he cut in smoothly.

“Get. Out,” Arthur snarled. Merlin glared at him, slamming his drawings down on his desk and walking out. Arthur slammed the door behind him, furious. There was no doubt that Merlin would be the death of him (or he would be the death of Merlin, given the fact he was _this_ close to actually murdering him).  

\---

That evening, Arthur had his father over for dinner. They did this occasionally, catching up with one another (out of obligation rather than actual want). Even though they worked at the same school, Arthur hardly saw his father, and with the musical that time had been significantly reduced.

“Arthur,” Uther greeted him with an expensive looking bottle of wine.

“Father, come in,” Arthur said, standing aside so Uther could walk past.

Soon enough, they were seated, enjoying a carbonara that Arthur had thrown together when he realised that his father was coming for tea.

“How’s work?” he asked.

Uther nodded. “Fine, fine. Some minor problems, parents having issues with Camelot, but nothing we can’t handle.”

“Good. Good,” Arthur replied, taking a sip of his wine.

“How is the musical going? I hope the money I spent on getting the rights is being used wisely,” Uther asked.

Arthur shrugged. “Yeah, it’s-it’s going.”

At that, Uther frowned. “Should I be worried, son?”

He shook his head. “No, no, just…having issues with Merlin, is all. We don’t get along all too well, as you know.”

“You’d better not let me down, Arthur. I expect this to be the best musical yet, otherwise we may put future money into other, more productive interests.”

“What? No! The musicals are always brilliant at Camelot, you know this!” Arthur objected.

Uther hummed. “Then I _expect_ it to be brilliant. Otherwise we might consider giving it the chop,” he told him.

Arthur gulped. Oh, God. He couldn’t lose the musicals. They were one of the best perks of his job, and he wouldn’t let it be sacrificed because him and Merlin couldn’t work together.

Bloody _Mer_ lin! This was all his fault, always being so difficult and irritating to work with! If it wasn’t for him, this musical would be going off without a hitch!

\---

The next day consisted of another afternoon rehearsal, but after last night’s dinner, Arthur was on edge. It had to be perfect. He couldn’t afford for this to completely fail. Arthur would not lose all future musicals at Camelot.

When he got there, Merlin had already organised what they were rehearsing. Because it was a Friday afternoon, he had decided to send the chorus home, get the rest of the leads to work with Mithian. He was only working with Lauren who played Belle, and Alex, the boy playing Belle’s father. He had decided that today, of all days, was the time to see the sweet [father/daughter duet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zBccgje-zk&index=3&list=PLA8VHLKYzqTsJHFPIYgDgLm8V7cFW5ctk) between them.

Arthur was bitter. He did not want to see any sweet father/daughter anything. Nothing with sweet fathers. His father certainly hadn’t been so sweet last night.

“Don’t you think we should do something like ‘Be Our Guest’ or ‘Human Again’ that has more of the leads?” Arthur tried. He was determined to not have to listen to this.

“Not all of them are ready to do those songs. But this one is good to go, ready to start being properly rehearsed as a scene,” he reasoned.

Arthur muttered curses under his breath, all of which were directed at Merlin.

Merlin gave a nod to the person who was working the sound system in the top box, and so the music began to play.

Lauren and Alex started with their lines, and then launched into the song.

“ _No we’re not odd it’s true, no family could be saner…_ ” Alex started singing. He was from one of the older grades, and he was tall and a bit lanky. He had a good, deep voice for the part.

Arthur glanced sideways to Merlin. He was humming along under his breath, and tapping his shoe. He rolled his eyes.

_“No matter what you do, I’m on your side,_

_And if my point of view is somewhat misty eyed,_

_There’s nothing clearer in my life than what I wish and feel for you,_

_And that’s a lot, no matter what.”_

_“No matter what they say, you make me proud,_

_I love the funny way you stand out from the crowd.”_

Ugh. He really hated how soppy this song was. Scowling, he started scrawling down some criticism on his copy of the script.

He could feel Merlin’s gaze on him, but that didn’t stop him. There were genuinely things he didn’t like about how the song was being performed. (Truly! There were!).

Once the two students had finished singing, they looked up eagerly at the two directors. Merlin smiled and gave them a thumbs up. Arthur frowned, grabbed his script and headed down to them to give his feedback.

“It’s certainly…coming along,” he began, referring to his notes. “But I’m just not happy with how you two are acting with one another. It’s overdone. Too much affection.”

Merlin came up behind him. “It’s not too much. It’s an affectionate song, and it always needs to be bigger for stage. You know this, Arthur,” he pointed out.

“I still think it’s too much for a father/daughter number.”

“Just because your father isn’t exactly affectionate with you, doesn’t mean you have to take it out on the musical! It’s Disney for crying out loud! Of course it’s going to be sweet in its appearance!” he argued.

“Leave my father out of this,” Arthur hissed.

“No, that’s what you need to start doing.”

“I can’t!” Arthur exclaimed, throwing his arms out. Lauren and Alex slowly backed away from what was inevitably going to turn into a heated argument. “If this musical is anything less than perfect, my father will scrap all Camelot musicals until further notice!”

“It’ll improve a lot more if you started collaborating with me instead of fighting with me at every turn!” Merlin argued.

“Me?! You do that as well, you…you _hypocrite_! And you’re not the one with pressure from not only your father, but the headmaster of this school also!”

“I’m under just as much pressure as you, thank you very much! This will actually _reflect_ on my job, unlike you, you history pleb!”

“Well, even if he has a funny way of showing it, at least my father cares about how this musical will do! Does _yours_?!” Arthur snapped.

Merlin recoiled.

Arthur should have stopped. He knows he should have. But he was just so fired up, and…

“I bet he doesn’t give a _shit_ about your job as a lowly drama teacher, let alone this musical,” he spat, in a final moment of resolve.

Merlin gaped. His expression changed, from being furious to…sadness.

Silence filled the auditorium. Arthur looked around and realised that all the leads were watching as they had their argument.

Very quietly, Merlin said to Arthur, “For once, Pendragon, you’re actually right. He doesn’t care at all.”

With that, he turned and walked out of the auditorium. Through the glass doors, Arthur could see him grab his stuff from the drama prep room, and he left immediately.

“You’re…you’re all dismissed,” Arthur told all the leads. Instantly, they all fled the scene.

Soon enough, he was alone. Though he had got what he had finally wanted, he couldn’t help but feel that he’d fucked up royally.

\---

“This better be good, brother dearest,” Morgana said when she answered the phone.

Arthur pulled his knees to his chest. He was still in the PAC, an hour after the ‘event’ had happened, and he wasn’t really sure what to do.

“I think I actually fucked up, Morgana,” he said quietly into the receiver.

“You couldn’t have realised this a month or so ago?” she complained.

“No, Morgana, you don’t understand. I…I went too far and I don’t know what to do. He hates me now, I’m sure of it.”

Morgana was silent for a second. “When did Arthur Pendragon care about the opinion of Merlin Emrys? You must have fucked up real bad.”

Arthur let out a high pitched whine. “I take it you know Merlin fairly well?”

“Oh, Arthur. Oh no. What did you say?”

“I…we were rehearsing ‘No Matter What’ and I said that the father and daughter affection was too much. Merlin didn’t agree, and then I snapped because last night at dinner, father was threatening to pull funding from future musicals if this one wasn’t a success, and then we were arguing, and then…” he hesitated, knowing he was about to get shrieked at by Morgana, “I may have told him that his father didn’t care about him working on the musical or his job.”

Morgana gasped sharply. “Arthur! You…you absolute idiot! I am actually going to murder you! Well, unless Gwaine gets to you first…”

“I know…” he groaned.

“No, you don’t know. Merlin’s father left him when he was very young. He tried to track him down when he was at university, but his father rejected him! You’re a complete and utter insensitive twat!” she shrieked.

“Fuck,” Arthur muttered bitterly. “I didn’t know that, Morgie, I swear…”

“I know you didn’t, but for fuck’s sake…I hope you’ve learned your lesson. I think it was about time your attitude toward Merlin bit you in the arse.”

“Yes, I’ve definitely learned.” He paused. “He hates me now for sure. And he won’t forgive me, not for saying that! Oh fuck, this is the end of the musical!” he practically sobbed.

Morgana hushed him. “It’s not the end, darling, you’re just overreacting. And look, I know Merlin is stubborn, but he’s got a very kind and forgiving nature. You never know, Arthur. You might be given another chance.”

He sighed. “I’m fairly certain I’ve used all my chances up. But it’s a nice thought.”

“Hmmm. Well, I’d suggest you try and remedy it as soon as possible,” she advised him.

“Yeah. I know. I will. At least, I’ll try,” he mumbled.

“Good. Now, I have to go, but take care of yourself ok?”

“Yeah, ok.”

She paused. “I believe you can fix this, Arthur. Just...don’t act on your need to fight him constantly, and I think you’ll be right.”

“Ok. Ok, yes, I’ll try.”

“Good. I’ll talk to you later,” she finished, hanging up her phone.

Arthur clutched his phone tightly in his hand. He was going to have to face the music.

\---

Finally, he had packed up his stuff and was now ready to leave the PAC.

It was already dark when he finally made it outside, highlighting that he’d been here for far longer than he’d anticipated. It never wasn’t strange, not even as a teacher, being at school at night on your own.

Sighing, he knew he was the person responsible for locking up the large building, being the last one to leave it. He locked the side door he had exited from, and then went around and checked the other music and drama rooms.

The music rooms downstairs were locked already. He headed up the stairs to where the main entrance to the auditorium was. He made sure those doors were locked, and then headed to the left side of the building that had a rehearsal room and music classroom.

He tried the doors on both, checking that they were locked.

Finally, he remembered he’d forgotten the side door on the other side of the building. It was the main door for the music entrance, unlike the other one he had come out of.

“Bugger,” he muttered to himself, as he dashed back down the stairs, turned left to walk down the large corridor underneath the PAC. At the end, he turned right, following the building until he made it to the door. It was still open, so he locked it.

As he turned to leave, he noticed on the small grassy field next to the PAC and in front of the sport’s centre was a figure, sitting on the grass. Not just any figure, though.

It was Merlin.

Arthur gulped. This was his chance to try and right things.

Instead of going back the way he came, he made his way down the stairs and onto the grass, approaching the brunet slowly.

“Merlin?” he asked, quietly.

Merlin whipped his head around to face Arthur. Though it was dark, he could see tear streaks on his face, reflecting in the dim light.

“Go away, Arthur,” he said coldly, turning away from him.

He considered it for a moment. But he couldn’t leave Merlin like…this. It was one thing to drive him up the wall, but another to have upset him.

“I’m sorry, for what I said. I…overstepped.”

Merlin scoffed. “You know, it was bad enough that you were insufferable to work with, but then you just had to go and be a total…”

“Fuckwit?” Arthur filled in for him.

“I was thinking ‘arse’, but yes, ‘fuckwit’ works just as well,” Merlin said.

Arthur took this as his cue to sit down next to Merlin.

“I’ve fucked up big time, with this, with…you. And I’m genuinely sorry, I really am,” he tried.

Merlin said nothing.

“Morgana told me about your dad, and I…I acknowledge that I was an insensitive buffoon, and that what I said was completely out of line, regardless of the circumstances, but now that I know the circumstances, I just…I am sorry, Merlin. For the way I’ve treated you, and for what I said. It should have stopped a long time ago-”

“Stop beating yourself up about it, it’s painful to listen to,” Merlin complained.

For that, Arthur shoved him lightly.

“Oi!”

“I’m trying to be nice and all you can say is that I’m painful to listen to?” he scowled. Though it was dark, he could swear Merlin was smirking at him.

A silence settled between them. In the distance, crickets chirped, dogs barked, and there was the faint sound of cars driving by.

“Why do you hate me?” Merlin asked.

Arthur paused.

“I don’t hate you. I just…I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

“You just like taking your temper out on me?”

Arthur frowned. “Maybe. I dunno, I…can’t explain it.”

“Well, better me than…I dunno, Gwen, or Morgana,” he joked.

“Oh, don’t worry, I take it out on Morgana as well. Just differently,” Arthur joked back.

Merlin chuckled. The breeze picked up slightly, making Arthur shiver. Next to him, Merlin pulled on his jacket.

“It was just me and my mum, growing up,” Merlin started. Arthur turned to look at him as he spoke.

“I have, er, vague memories of my dad, but they’re nothing more than images, really, just small moments. He…left. My mum was gutted, never told me why he left, though. For a long time, I was fine, I just accepted it as it was. Mum never spoke about him though, and that’s what got to me. I wanted to know who he was!

“Then I got to university, and I had so much independence. I was living away from home, and so I thought I’d try and seek him out, because I could. After years of knowing hardly anything about my own father, I did some research. What was the harm, right? For all I knew, he could be living in another country.

“Luckily for me, I found him, and I managed to get an address. So one afternoon, I took a bus to wherever he was living. It…it was a total shithole when I got there. I had no clue.” Merlin sniffled, and Arthur gently placed a hand on his back to soothe him.

“I knocked on the door. He was the one to answer. I could smell…the alcohol on his breath, and the way he looked at me, I just…

“Um, I told him who I was. He didn’t take it very well, especially given that he was intoxicated. He was showing signs of becoming violent so I left quickly, never to return.”

“Gods...do you regret it?” Arthur asked.

Merlin shrugged. “I dunno. On the one hand, I got closure so I’m not constantly wondering what if…but on the other hand, what I saw was…harrowing.”

There was another moment of silence as the two men reflected on what had been said.

“I lost my mum,” Arthur piped up.

“Wait, what? Really? But Morgana…” Merlin trailed off.

“Half siblings, remember? We share the same father.”

“God, Arthur…I’m so sorry.”

Arthur just shrugged, face still neutral. “She died giving birth to me. I don’t remember her at all. But…it was always really tense, with just my dad. He was trying to bring up these two kids on his own. Morgana always got the favour, whereas it was always pressure on me to do better, no matter what. And, I don’t know, I always wondered if he blamed me for her death. If I hadn’t been born, she...she would still be alive.”

“Arthur…” Merlin started, but Arthur cut in before he could finish.

“I’m not telling you this because I want your pity, Merlin. I just wanted you to know that…you’re not alone. I know our situations are different, but I don’t know, I thought it might help if you knew I had lost a parent too.”

Merlin turned to look Arthur directly in the eye, his blue eyes shining with an emotion akin to…hope, perhaps even fondness.

“Does this mean we have a truce?” Before Arthur could speak, Merlin held up a hand. “No, let me finish. I don’t mean one with us not talking to one another, I mean for us to actually get along. Y’know, work together and collaborate on the musical. Maybe even become friends.”

Arthur smiled. “Yes. We have a truce.”

Though they had cleared the stiff air between them, the two men weren’t able to stop chatting to one another. For another few hours, as the night grew darker and colder, they lay on the grass, talking about nothing and everything.

\---

Come Monday morning, Arthur whistled ‘Something There’ to himself as he made himself a pot of coffee in the staffroom. When he sat down at one of the tables with Morgana, she looked at him as though he’d grown a second head.

“Arthur?”

“Mmm?” he hummed, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Are you ok?” she asked, eyebrow raised.

He put his coffee down. “Never been better. Why?”

“You didn’t call once this weekend to complain. And now you’re all… _cheery_ ,” Morgana said the word as though it left a bad taste in her mouth.

“If you must know, I took your advice and sorted things out with Merlin,” he explained, fiddling with his coffee mug.

At that, her eyes widened. “You fucked, didn’t you?! Arthur Pendragon, you utter scoundrel! Now Percy would’ve won the bet, you couldn’t have waited a week longer?” she whined (and rather loudly, much to Arthur’s chagrin).

“W-what! We did not fuck, Morgana!” Arthur hissed. “And it’s not ever going to happen, so why the fuck are you all placing bets on when we’re going to do it?!”

“When who’s going to do what?” Merlin asked as he approached them and sat down next to Arthur, also cradling his own cup of coffee. Instantly, Arthur turned bright red and Morgana tried her hardest to restrain her laughter (without much success).

“When Morgana’s going to kill me,” Arthur replied, trying to be smooth.

(It was unsuccessful, seeing as there had been an awkward silence for about ten seconds prior).

“I hope it’s not too soon, I’m finally getting used to the idea of you actually not being a total wanker during rehearsals,” Merlin joked. “That reminds me. I think we should reduce lunchtime and afternoon rehearsals to twice a week for both, seeing as we should take them all together.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Arthur agreed. “I’ll talk to you about it at today’s lunchtime rehearsal?”

“Sure. I’ve got to run anyway. See you Arthur, Morgana,” and with that, Merlin takes off.

When Arthur turned to face Morgana, she was gaping.

“You’re going to catch flies, you know,” Arthur pointed out, picking up his coffee and taking another sip.

“You and Merlin just agreed on something,” Morgana stated.

“Yes, that has happened before,” Arthur said.

“Yes, but you’re always making comments or have to get someone else to mediate…that’s the first time you’ve done it so…amicably,” Morgana sounded amazed.

“I really don’t have the time for this, dear sister,” Arthur sighed, standing up. “I’ll talk to you later, we have some more ideas when it comes to the sets.”

Arthur picked up his coffee and walked away from the table, leaving a stunned Morgana in his wake.

\---

Merlin had been caught up in some kind of meeting prior to rehearsal, which meant that Arthur was there first and had begun to kick things off.

“If we could start with the opening scene and ‘Belle’, I think we’ll start trying to get the blocking of that down today,” he announced as he walked up onto the stage. The students finished their food and Arthur started arranging them as best he could, based on the script.

(He knew Merlin would come and take over, completely changing what he had done, but it didn’t matter).

About 5 minutes later, Merlin rocked up. “Sorry I’m late,” he called out as he made his way down the stairs.

Arthur immediately noticed the shift in the mood of the students. It stopped being calm and became rather tense.

“Ah, take note everyone, Mr Emrys here is an example of what you shouldn’t do, which is turn up late to rehearsals,” Arthur joked, but it fell flat among the students, who had all gone unusually quiet.

“Um, anyway,” Arthur coughed, as Merlin made his way down the last couple of stairs. Until he tripped over the last one, flailing his arms about as he went crashing to the ground, face-planting.

“Owww,” he groaned as he lay on the floor.

The students braced themselves. This was it. Mr Pendragon would make a berating remark about the incident, prompting Mr Emrys to retaliate. Then they would fight, one of them would run off and that would be the end of rehearsal.

Instead, he broke out into loud laughter. Oh, God. Was this better, or worse?

Arthur walked over to where Merlin was still on the ground, and helped him up. Instead of scowling at him, Merlin was wearing a cheeky grin.

Like that, the tension in the room seemed to leave in an instant. It would seem that there had been a change since last Friday.

“Alright, chorus, into position please,” Arthur instructed them.

“Oh God, Pendragon, what did you do?” he asked as soon as they had arranged themselves.

“It’s perfectly logical!”

Merlin looked bemused. “Yeah, ok, we’re going to have to fix this, stat,” he said, clapping Arthur hard on the back as he jumped up onto the stage and began re-organising the chorus.

Arthur rolled his eyes, but grinned all the same. There was no doubt that things were going to improve.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked, kudos and comments are most welcome xxx thanks for reading so far!!!


	4. INTERLUDE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Only yesterday you were telling me that he asked you to phone that school about those costumes, and that took you a year to get done. Please tell me you’re ahead of your marking,” Morgana said, admonished.  
>  Arthur whimpered in response.  
> “Oh, Arthur, you really do like him, don’t you?” she crooned. ___
> 
> __Chapter 4; an interlude of sorts from the musical tale, where there's a pinch of Christmas, and the pining begins._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thanks to all of you lovely people who have stuck with me so far, and welcome newcomers! This update is later than I anticipated - I've had a busy week so this is as soon as I was able to get it up by. 
> 
> This is a slightly shorter chapter - it's what I'm calling an interlude because it's less about the musical and more about the lead up to Christmas break. If the time span is off I'm sorry about that - I live in Australia, so Christmas is normally when we have our summer hols! (about 2 months of break). 
> 
> Character's belong to Shine and the BBC, and the musical belongs to Disney.

December rolled around, and with it the pressure intensified. Yes, rehearsals were coming along strongly, but the musical was happening at the beginning of March, and with holidays as well… They had yet to find or make decent costumes, and they still hadn’t finalised the look for the sets. Not to mention that it was coming to the end of semester, and there was a lot of marking still to be done.

“I was thinking we start on working through some of the bigger numbers today, starting with ‘Be Our Guest’. What do you think?” Merlin asked at the next afternoon rehearsal. They both walked along the bottom of the stage, Arthur on the floor and Merlin one step up.

“I think that’s good, and in the mean time I’m working through feedback to give to the leads. I have,” Arthur said, holding up a large pile of post-it notes, “all of these for us to use during rehearsals, between now and the actual performance.”

Merlin’s eyes bugged out at how many post-it’s he had. “We really need that many?”

“We’ll go through them all, just you wait and see.”

Since they had resolved their issues, rehearsals had become far more enjoyable, ran smoothly and were actually rather productive. Gwen had been right; the two of them did work well together once they had gotten over themselves.

And though Arthur would never admit it, once he started seeing Merlin in a new light…he really saw him in a _new_ light. Every now and then, he would catch his eyes running over Merlin’s slender figure, particularly those skinny jeans which made his arse look mighty fine. His hair, which was shorter than the original shaggy cut Arthur was first met with, was always messily styled and made him want to run his fingers through it.

“Arthur? Are you listening to me?” Merlin asked, snapping Arthur out of his momentary lapse.

“Oh, uh, sorry I just…thinking about the other things I have to do this week, is all,” Arthur replied hastily, hoping Merlin wouldn’t see through his lie.

“Right…I was just saying that we should reduce afternoon rehearsals from two to one per week, because assessment is ramping up, for both the students and us,” he told him.

Arthur nodded, trying his hardest not to stare at Merlin’s plump lips… “Right, yes, that sounds good to me.”

“Great,” he grinned, quickly taking off to approach some of the students in the chorus for ‘Be Our Guest’.

Arthur sighed. Bloody hell. Why did it have to go from one extreme to the other?

\---

When the landline in the history room rang at 7:30 in the morning, Arthur couldn’t help but let out a loud groan. It was far too early to be dealing with anyone who wasn’t Lance (and even Lance himself was a bit of a stretch).

“Pendragon speaking,” Arthur said gruffly.

“Arthur! Just the person I wanted to catch,” Merlin chirped. Arthur sighed, and prayed that he would have enough restraint so as to not lose his temper. Of course Merlin would be a bloody morning person.

“What is it?” Arthur asked, trying his best not to fume.

“Check your emails. A few years ago, another school did ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and they knew a person who knew another person…anyway, they were connected with someone and got these phenomenal costumes. I’ve emailed them, but I need you to call them and arrange whether or not we can loan them.”

“Why can’t you do that?” Arthur asked, biting back a whiney tone.

“I would but I’ve got classes all day today, not to mention a fuckton of assignments to mark. Not to mention that it may cost a bit, and you’re more in charge of the money than me,” he replied. “Do you mind?”

At that, Arthur looked back at his desk. Next to his laptop was a tall pile of papers he was still yet to look at. He was supposed to have begun a few days ago, but hadn’t. And now he was really regretting that choice.

“Ok. Yes, ok, I’ll organise all that,” Arthur grudgingly agreed.

“Oh, thank you! I owe you one. See you, Pendragon!” With that, he hung up.

Arthur sighed again.

\---

“Can you speak to Morgana for me about the finalised designs for the sets?” Merlin asked him over the phone the next morning.

“You do realise I spent close to two hours on the phone yesterday trying to get those costumes,” Arthur grumbled.

“I know! I know. But I just don’t have time, I’ve got this excursion today, and then my mum’s coming into town so I have to pick her up this afternoon and actually socialise with her, and seeing as you and Morgana have done most of the visual designs for the sets, I thought you could be in charge of overseeing it. Please, Arthur?” Merlin begged. “I’ve sent an email to you with details about the final sets, it won’t take long, I swear.”

Arthur glanced back at his desk, eyeing the pile of papers still needing to be marked. Regardless of him having marked a fair few tests the previous day, the pile had grown even taller, and was now teetering dangerously.

“Ok. Ok, fine, but only because she’s my half-sister and you don’t deserve the torture that is putting up with her,” he reluctantly agreed.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! owe you one, I really do!” Merlin gushed, and hung up.

Arthur sighed. “I must be in deeper than I thought,” he mumbled into the dead phone line.

\---

“Arthur, what a pleasant surprise,” Morgana greeted him that afternoon when he came to the art department. “How may I help you, brother dearest?”

“I’m just here to finalise the art and designs for the sets,” Arthur told her. At that, she raised an eyebrow.

“Really? I thought Merlin was going to do that, seeing as we’d done most of the work on the actual designs,” she commented.

“He was busy, and it needed to be done, so he sent me an email with some details and we’ll finalise it now,” Arthur explained.

“Only yesterday you were telling me that he asked you to phone that school about those costumes, and that took you a year to get done. Please tell me you’re ahead of your marking,” Morgana said, admonished.

Arthur whimpered in response.

“Oh, Arthur, you really do like him, don’t you?” she crooned.

“Oh, shut it, that’s not what it is. I just prefer working on the musical rather than working my way through 20 essays on the Cold War,” he sighed, hoping Morgana wouldn’t see through the white lie. “My marking pile grows bigger every time I look away from it. It’s bloody terrifying.”

Morgana just hummed. “Have you ever considered telling him no? He’ll understand.”

He shrugged. “He’s busy too. I couldn’t ask him to take on all the pressure.”

“You’re co-directing, Arthur. It means you take on that pressure together,” she advised him, patting him gently on the back. “Now, with these designs. How about I finalise them based on these notes, and I’ll shoot Merlin an email for him to confirm?”

“That would be good, please,” he said, letting out a sigh of relief. She may drive him crazy, but Morgana was a wonderful sister.

“Now go and work through as much of that marking as you can bear this afternoon, ok?”

Arthur nodded, forcing a smile onto his face. Oh, the joys of marking…

\---

The semester was soon coming to an end, but Arthur was no further ahead with his marking. There were still piles of books, assignments and exams he had to get through in less than a week. He also still had his end of semester reports to do for all of his students. Most of his colleagues were done, or had it under control. Because of this, they were going out while Arthur was hanging back at the school to get some work done. (if he went home to do it, he would fall into a miserable, alcohol induced stupor and not be productive at all).

Come 5pm on a Friday evening, Lance was packing up for the week. “You coming, Arthur?” he asked, noticing that Arthur hadn’t made a move to pack up and was still working.

“Sorry, Lance, I won’t be able to make it,” he apologised, going straight back to his work.

“How behind are you with your work?” he questioned him, but Arthur was reluctant to reply. If he told him, Lance would be all noble and offer to stay behind until it was all done. He couldn’t ask that of him.

“Behind enough that I need to do this late night, but not so behind that you should be concerned,” Arthur told him. Lance eyed him suspiciously, not quite believing his answer, but Arthur was stubborn and wouldn’t budge.

“Alright. But if you want to join us later, we’re going for drinks after dinner, just at the usual place,” he informed Arthur as he finished packing up his stuff.

“Have a good night,” Lance called out as he left the room.

“You too,” Arthur mumbled in reply.

\---

It was edging 7pm when Arthur felt the need to drink another coffee. His energy was wavering (not being helped by the lack of dinner), and as the essays got more boring, he was gradually getting more tired. Soon he would have to stop and move onto exams when he was brain dead.

“You idiot!”

The shout from behind him caused Arthur to jump, spilling some of his coffee down his shirt. Great. Just great.

He turned in his chair to see Merlin, looking rather riled up. The top button of his shirt was undone, his hair was messier than usual, and he looked se-furious. (Not sexy, Arthur, don’t think sexy!).

“I cannot believe how much of a…a dollophead you are!” Merlin exclaimed.

“A what?”

He walked up to Arthur, prodding a finger at his chest. “You didn’t think to tell me that you had fallen behind with your marking as I continued to give you extra work for the musical?!”

“Wait, what? How did you-who told you?”

Merlin crossed his arms. “Morgana. And Lance backed her up, telling me about how you were working here tonight instead of going out like the rest of us.”

Arthur shrugged. “It’s no big deal, Merlin. It’s my fault I’m stuck in this situation in the first place-“

“Arthur,” he interrupted, “regardless, you still shouldn’t have let yourself get so far behind. I’ve come to help you.”

“What? No! I’m fine,” he protested, turning away from Merlin.

However, Merlin was determined to be pushy. He came over to Arthur’s different stacks of papers and books to be marked, picking out one of the exams.  
“You have an answer sheet for these?” Merlin asked.

Arthur nodded, passing him the sheet of paper with the answers on them. Taking that and the stack of exams, he placed them on the floor, then he sat on the floor himself.

“You know there’s plenty of desks you can use if you wish,” Arthur told him.

“Eh, I prefer marking on the ground. More space to put the papers, easier to move and stretch around,” he said.

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Such a drama teacher,” he tutted.

“Oi! I’m the one helping you out here, you could be grateful,” Merlin grumbled, spreading himself out.

Silence fell between them as they marked. About 15 minutes later though, Merlin’s phone buzzed. He stood up, stretched, and then made for the door.

“I will be right back,” he said, leaving Arthur behind.

“Hmph,” Arthur grunted. Regardless of their new found friendship, there was still no chance he would ever be able to understand Merlin.

No longer than 5 minutes later, Merlin returned, bearing pizza.

“Oh, I have never been happier to see you in my entire life,” Arthur moaned, standing up to greet him. He grabbed one of the boxes out of Merlin’s hands and grabbed a slice.

“Not even when I turned up to help you mark?” Merlin asked, annoyed.

“But foooood,” Arthur drawled, shovelling pizza into his face.

Merlin just harrumphed, and went back to sitting on the floor to mark the exams.

“Is it really that comfortable?” Arthur asked with his mouth full.

“I guess? I don’t know, personal preference I suppose-wait, Arthur, what are you doing?”

Before he could be stopped, Arthur had picked up all his work and moved it to the ground, followed by him collapsing on the floor.

“You’re right, it is comfy,” Arthur sighed.

Merlin rolled his eyes. “Get to work, you,” he scolded.

As soon as he’d eaten about half the pizza, Arthur picked up his marking again. They continued late into the night, only deciding to call it when it was just past midnight. Though most of the time spent between them was silent and focussed, occasionally one of them would speak, sparking light banter.

What Arthur really noticed, however, was how comfortable the whole situation was. Perhaps it was because he was tired, or stressed, or really overworked. But doing this, being here with Merlin in comfortable silence…it felt _right_.

_Oh, shit._

\---

“SCHOOL’S OUT!” Mordred cheered, running into the staffroom.

As always, at the end of every semester, school would only go for half a day, and the rest of the day the teacher’s would finish any extra work, and then celebrate with wine in the staffroom.

Arthur offered Mordred a glass of wine, which he took eagerly.

“I take it you’re pleased that the semester is over?” he asked.

Mordred nodded vigorously. “God, yeah. Bloody year 9’s, drove me up the wall this semester. This is going to be a nice Christmas break.”

“Indeed it is,” Arthur replied, taking a sip from his glass, not quite agreeing with the sentiment. There was something…wistful settling in the pit of his stomach, and for once he wasn’t so happy with the term coming to an end.

At that moment, Uther walked into the buzzing staffroom, and silence instantly fell.

“I would like to congratulate all of you on another successful semester. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas, and we will see you in the New Year,” he announced to all the teachers. “Ensure that all the required work you have is done, and then you are free to leave for vacation.”

At that, everyone cheered, startling Uther. He immediately left the room, not wishing to socialise with his employees who may have already had too much to drink. (and it was still early afternoon).

A couple of hours and perhaps a few too many glasses of wine later, someone had decided that karaoke was a good idea. Loud music played out tinny speakers as some of the older teachers (disturbingly) sang along to the latest crap pop tune from the previous year. Slightly buzzed, Arthur sat at one of the tables, just observing his surroundings. Morgana was next to him, gushing over Gwen and Lance and the new addition to their family that was only a few months away.

“Would now be a good time to let you know that the school with the costumes has finally agreed to let us loan them? And at a good price too?” Merlin asked as he pulled up a chair beside Arthur.

“Really? That’s fantastic! Thanks for securing that,” Arthur beamed, feeling rather warm and fuzzy now that Merlin had joined him.

“S’alright. Glad that holidays have rolled around?” Merlin asked.

“Yeah. It’ll be good, I need a holiday.”

“Seconded. I’m beat. Marking really took it out of me this semester,” he sighed.

“I think you mean the musical took it out of you. That on top of marking is a killer,” Arthur pointed out.

“Yeah, very true. It’ll be rewarding though. I hope. Uh, anyway, I came by to say goodbye,” he said.

Arthur turned to face him, trying not to let his true emotions show. “Oh. Already?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I’m staying with my mum, as I always do at Christmas. Means I leave early so I have time to drive to her place,” he explained.

“Oh, of course. Well, uh, shall I see you out?”

Merlin softly smiled. “Yeah, that’d be nice, thanks. I could use some help with my school stuff, actually.”

Both of them got up, making their way toward the door, unaware of all the eyes that followed them.

Merlin was parked out the front of the school. Opening the backseat door, Arthur put in a box of miscellaneous papers and books of plays. Merlin had a separate box as well, for musical related stuff.

Once that was done, however, things very quickly became awkward.

“Well, uh, thanks for helping,” Merlin said hurriedly.

“Urhm, yes, you’re welcome,” Arthur replied, putting his hands in his pockets and shifting around uncomfortably.

“I’ll see you in the new year, I suppose. Don’t hesitate to email me about anything musical related,” Merlin smiled.

“Of course. Have-have a really lovely Christmas, Merlin.”

“You too, Arthur,” Merlin replied softly, reaching out to gently touch Arthur’s shoulder for a fleeting moment.

Very quickly, Merlin got in his car and drove off. Arthur stared after it, wishing it would turn back around.

\---

Walking back into the staffroom, Arthur was immediately swarmed by his colleagues.

“Woah, what the hell? How much have you all had to drink since I left?” Arthur complained, trying to push them aside.

“Are you going to tell us?” Leon asked.

“Tell you what?” Arthur frowned. “I don’t understand, did something happen-“

“We saw you leave with Merlin, Arthur,” Morgana cut in smoothly.

“Uh, yeah, I helped him take his stuff to his car.

“And?” Lance said.

“And what?” Arthur scowled, not liking the direction of this conversation.

“Did anything happen?” he pressed.

“Nothing happened! I just saw him out, helped him carry his things, said goodbye, and watched him drive away, ok? What more do you want?” he snapped.

Very quickly, everyone backed off.

Without Arthur hearing, Lance quietly whispered to Morgana. “Bugger. I had my money on a Christmas goodbye kiss. I thought it was totally foolproof!”

“So did we all, Lance. So did we all.”

\---

“You’re moping,” Morgana stated.

“I am not moping,” Arthur moped. He was lying on the couch at their father’s place, his glass of mulled wine in arm’s reach on the coffee table.

“See! You just moped, right there!” she huffed.

“Hmph,” Arthur rolled over, facing away from Morgana and toward the back of the couch.

“It’s Christmas Eve, Arthur, you can’t sulk!” Morgana complained, picking up his legs and sitting on the couch, placing them back in her lap.

“I can and I will,” he mumbled into the couch.

She sighed. “What’s gotten into you? You love Christmas, and you love school vacation. You’re not stressed about musical?”

Arthur reluctantly turned to face her. “No, I’m not, the musical is going fine.”

“So what is it, then?” Arthur noticed the realisation dawning on her face. Oh, God. Had she figured it out?

“Maybe it’s not about what you love, but rather _who_?” she teased, sipping her own mulled wine.

Arthur just groaned. Great. He really didn’t want to talk about it.

“Leave me alone, Morgieeeee,” he groaned again, causing her to cackle at his pain.

“Awww, I can’t believe you miss him! That’s adorable,” she crooned.

“I don’t miss anyone, thank you very much,” he denied, though the blush on his face was a clear indicator of the obvious.

“So you’re not blushing, and pigs can fly,” she scoffed. “Come on, just admit it. You. Like. Merlin.”

He sat up, grabbing his mulled wine and downing it (though it wouldn’t be enough to get him even remotely tipsy so he could deal with Morgana).

“I do not like him, and I’d suggest you stop placing bets on whether or not things are going to happen, because you are not going to get any money out of it,” Arthur grumbled.

“Just…forget the bet for a moment. Arthur, do you actually like Merlin?” Morgana asked, sounding rather genuine.

“I have to work with him, don’t I? I have to like him to some extent,” he muttered.

“That didn’t stop you from working together before. You despised him, remember?”

Arthur held her intimidating gaze. “Yes, I like him, ok? But there’s no way in hell the man will ever like me back, given the way I’ve treated him in the past. I’ve been lucky enough that he’s given me a second chance with friendship and working together amicably on this musical, but he wouldn’t dare think of me in that way. Is that what you wanted to hear?” he snapped, standing up and moving away from her. He couldn’t do this, not right now anyway. He didn’t want to think about how he’d most likely fucked it up before it could have even begun.

“Arthur?” Morgana called after him.

“What?”

“Just…think about the story behind your beloved musical, that’s all. Like, really think about it.”

He gave her a quizzical look. “Ok? I will?”

“Goodnight, Arthur.”

“Night, Morgana.”

As soon as he collapsed on his bed, he let out a loud groan. Morgana was right; he was moping because he was love-struck. And there was still two weeks of winter vacation before he would even get to see Merlin again.

_Fuck._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are much appreciated if you enjoyed :)  
> Next update will be about a week away, depending on how busy I am this coming week. Expect another 2-3 chapters of this story for it to be done! xx


	5. If I Can't Love Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _As soon as he shut the door, he collapsed into his chair and groaned. It would appear that it was more than just an infatuation. He was head over heels for Merlin. ___
> 
> __Number 5: Arthur is constantly to-ing and fro-ing with his emotions, Valentine's Day happens, and the performance is only getting closer._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies! Another chapter update so soon! However, the final updates might be a wait away (but definitely before the end of November, so do not worry!). Thanks to everyone who's been reading so far, and welcome new readers :D 
> 
> Also: SQUEEEE about the latest 'Beauty and the Beast' Trailer! I'm so excited you have no idea!
> 
> This chapter has a sneaky lil photoshop thing that I just had to create when writing this! It was just such a funny image in my mind that I felt it deserved to become real, so look forward to that! ;) (it's linked in the fic, bc for some reason i can't get it to embed -_-)
> 
> Character's belong to the BBC and Shine, and the musical belongs to Disney.

Arthur had a rule when it came to love, dating and relationships within the workplace, which he was referred to as ‘the vacation rule’. As he knew he had a tendency to follow his ~~dick…a good shag?~~ infatuation over his actual emotions, he made it a rule that he wasn’t allowed to make a move until after a period of vacation away from school. It wasn’t worth pursuing an infatuation, as Arthur was wanting to date rather than just have a good shag and be done with it, not to mention it made working relations complicated. He had learnt the hard way with his lust for a teacher-aide, Sophia, and had abided with the rule ever since.

Although Arthur did regard Merlin rather highly, he desperately hoped that his feelings were pure infatuation. If it was more than that, well…it was safe to say things would become rather complicated. The few weeks of Christmas vacation were hopefully enough to deter any lustful feelings he might’ve had for Merlin.

Come the first day back during planning week, Arthur was having a coffee in the staffroom when Merlin walked in. He was wearing a form fitting purple shirt and his usual black skinny jeans. He looked well rested, and was grinning as he talked to a few colleagues as he made himself a coffee. Maybe it was just Arthur, but his blue eyes seemed brighter, and his cheekbones more defined…

Before Arthur knew it, Merlin had approached him at the table he was sitting at. Instantly, Arthur’s heart began to race, and he could feel a blush creep up his cheeks at the sudden attention on him.

“Hello Arthur, how was your break?” he beamed.

“It was good. Yes. Very good. Really fantastic, great weather, although it was quiet. But Morgana got totally shit faced on Christmas Day which was funny. Father wasn’t impressed though,” Arthur rambled, cringing internally. Why did his mouth and brain just have to stop working when he started speaking to Merlin?

“Sounds fun,” Merlin smiled, taking a sip from his coffee.

“What about you?” Arthur blurted suddenly. “I mean, did you have a good break?”

“Oh, yes, I had a lovely time staying with my mother. Lots of good food,” Merlin replied, unfazed by Arthur’s strange behaviour.

“That’s great!” Arthur said with too much enthusiasm.

Merlin looked slightly startled, and an awkward silence fell between them.

“I have to go now,” Arthur stated, standing up from the table. He had to get out of this situation, stat! “I’ll talk to you later about the musical.”

“Of course,” Merlin replied, bemused as Arthur left the staffroom in a hurry and headed straight for the history prep room.

As soon as he shut the door, he collapsed into his chair and groaned. It would appear that it was more than just an infatuation. He was head over heels for Merlin.

\---

Arthur spent the rest of preparation week hiding in his prep room, away from Merlin. In the mean time, Arthur learnt from Lance that Merlin himself was busy anyway, running through everything that was happening in the drama department for the next semester while Gwen was on maternity leave. He also had a temporary teacher as well to take some of Gwen’s classes, whom he needed to get up to speed before school began.

When school started, Arthur found he could hide from Merlin no longer and would eventually have to face the music. However, Merlin beat him to it, by coming to the history prep room where Arthur was preparing his work for the day (and still hiding from his feelings).

“Hello, Arthur,” he smiled, walking into the room.

“Merlin! How are you?” Arthur grinned, turning to give him his full attention.

“I’m good, yeah. Last week was crazy, though. How about you?”

“Fine, fine,” Arthur replied. Much better now that you’re here, Arthur thought. All of a sudden, he was wondering why he denied himself Merlin’s company for a whole week!

“That’s good. Um, I just came to stop by, wondering when we’ll have a meeting before jumping into rehearsals again,” he said, wringing his hands together.

“Oh! Yes, of course,” Arthur practically jumped up, grabbing his calendar. “I’m free most of this week, what works for you?”

“The sooner the better. Today, lunchtime, here?” he asked.

“Perfect. I will see you then,” Arthur replied, pencilling it in.

“Alright, see you,” Merlin said, smiling as he left.

As soon as he was gone, Arthur realised how fast his heart was beating. Good God he was screwed.

\---

Lunchtime rolled around far too slowly for Arthur’s liking. Throughout the day, he caught himself staring out the window from his history classroom, looking in the direction of the PAC in the hopes of seeing even a glimpse of Merlin…

“Mr Pendragon?”

Today he had been looking mighty fine, there was no doubt about it. He was wearing his typical skinny jeans which looked so good on his body, not to mention that the shirt he was wearing was tighter than usual…

“Sir?”

Also he’d had his hair cut over the holidays. It was a little shorter, but still messy, and Arthur liked it a lot. His eyes had also seemed rather blue today, more so than normal…

“Mr Pendragon, sir!” one of his students startled him out of his dreamy gaze.

“Hm?”

“I need help with this question,” she said, sounding agitated.

“Oh, of course, show it to me and we’ll work through it,” he said, bending down so he could see what she was doing.

It wasn’t too long before he was staring out the window once again as his students worked through a timeline activity on their laptops.

The bell rang. Around him, the students stopped working and looked at him eagerly.

“You’re dismissed,” he said, waving his hand and not breaking his gaze from the window.

Through his peripheral vision, he could see his students pack up and exit rather quickly. But soon enough he was distracted by a very familiar figure coming up the stairs from the PAC. Startled by his appearance, Arthur jumped up and pulled out his smart phone. He opened his front camera, and quickly adjusted his hair, making sure he looked alright. Was that…a lash on his cheek? And gods, he looked more tired than he thought, given that it was the first day of official school. Then again, he hadn’t slept well over the course of the holidays or during planning week. Quick, better do a teeth check. It would be pretty awkward and entirely unflattering if there was food in his teeth-

“Ahem.”

Immediately, Arthur half-dropped half-threw his phone, and watched as it hit the floor.

From the door, Merlin was smirking at him. “Hopefully your screen isn’t cracked.”

“Shut up, _Mer_ lin,” he growled, going over to pick up his phone from the ground. Thankfully the floor was carpet and so his phone was fine. When he looked back at Merlin, he was biting down on that gorgeous, plump bottom lip of his-

“Shall we?” Merlin asked, beckoning toward the prep room. Arthur nodded, following his lead.

As soon as they were seated, Merlin pulled out his laptop and a long list of things that needed to be organised. For the rest of the short amount of time, they discussed everything, from the choreography and blocking they wanted changed and the two big numbers which still needed to be put together, all the way to how Morgana and Gwaine were going with the sets and who would be working backstage and the top box.

“Should we intensify rehearsals?” Arthur asked.

Merlin shook his head. “Too soon. Maybe in February we can, but the second we intensify, the second our leads and chorus will start getting sick. The more we hold off, the better.”

“Ok, sure. Shall I start organising the callout for backstage crew this week?” Arthur said.

“Definitely. Also we’ll need to consider who we put in the top box and helping out with lighting and sound. Any thoughts on who?”

Arthur hummed. “I know there’s a few boys across the older grades who are good at technical production-lighting, sound, and all that. Also I’m calling in a past student – he does technical design for theatre as his job now, and he agreed to help out. I think it’ll be good, especially to make this musical look as best as we can and with minimal tech issues.”

Merlin pressed his lips together. “Sounds fair.”

The bell went just at that moment, and Arthur felt his heart drop. The time had gone by so quickly! He didn’t want Merlin to go, not yet.

“Ah, shit, I have class now,” Merlin swore, standing up and making for the door. “Sorry, Arthur, I gotta run. I’ll email you!” Merlin called out as he ran off to his next class.

Arthur sighed. He didn’t even have a class next to distract him, just more lesson planning and musical organising.

Groaning, he let his head fall and hit his desk. This semester was going to be…interesting.

\---

Rehearsals picked up again, but this time, things were different. What was once arguments and fights had been replaced with banter (and the occasional flirting on Arthur’s end). For the next few weeks, they planned to keep rehearsing the big scenes, such as ‘Be Our Guest’ and ‘Human Again’ which they had been yet to look at. The choreography for the dances was starting to come together, and now they were able to hone in on little details to make sure everything started to run smoothly.

Arthur made the call to the rest of the student body for help regarding backstage and painting of the sets. Thankfully, it was met with an enthusiastic response, and soon he was co-ordinating who was going to do what with Leon, Percy and Lance, who had all enthusiastically agreed to help with the stage managing of the musical.

In the mean time, Merlin and Arthur were starting to meet more frequently. And though the main reason for this was the anticipating musical, the two men found themselves becoming more and more friendly each time, with the meetings often ending in a conversation about something entirely unrelated.

“So most things are sorted in terms of the people for backstage, it’s really just a matter of getting them in to rehearse when we hit full runs and dress rehearsals,” Merlin said.

Arthur nodded. “Yep, that’s about it. Out of curiosity - you’re very experienced, considering you haven’t done a school musical before. Or, at least, I don’t think you have…” he said, eyeing Merlin suspiciously as a joke. Merlin laughed.

“I haven’t directed, no. But I have been involved in musicals…” he trailed off.

“Really? Do tell.”

Merlin smiled. “We did musicals at my high school, so I’ve been in the chorus for shows like Grease, and The Boyfriend. But when I was young, I, er, I was one of the Von Trapp children in the West End production of The Sound of Music.”

Arthur gaped. “You…were in The Sound of Music. At the West End. As one of the children.”

Merlin blushed and looked down. “Er, yeah. Like I said, I was quite young, but it was definitely quite the learning experience.”

“That’s amazing! Tell me everything! What was it like? Which child did you play?” Arthur gushed.

“I played Kurt, and it was good, yeah, a great experience to have. The show got great reviews, and I was actually called by a few agents. They believed I had the potential to do acting in film.”

“That’s amazing, Merlin! If you don’t mind me asking, why didn’t you pursue it?”

“I enjoyed doing a professional show, don’t get me wrong. But…it made me realise that as much as I love theatre and acting, I didn’t want to perform professionally for the rest of my career. Thus, I became a drama teacher instead.”

“So you chose teaching over becoming a professional actor? Are you mad?”

Merlin shrugged. “I dunno, I just didn’t like the idea of it. The lifestyle, the fame… I’m much happier doing what I do.”

“So humble,” Arthur teased.

“Yes, well…but doing stage shows is definitely where I’ve picked up all this stuff from. In saying that, though, I probably learnt more from my high school than West End. Professional productions are different to school ones.”

“Huh,” Arthur smiled. “There’s something about you Merlin. Something I can’t quite put my finger on.”

\---

Somehow, Arthur had forgotten how torturous unrequited love could be.

(Yes, it was love. He could no longer deny it).

It didn’t take long for him to fall from cloud nine and start to feel rather down.

Arthur was supposed to be meeting Morgana one week in late January to see how the sets were coming along, but it very quickly turned into a kind of counselling session.

“I hate all these…feelings,” Arthur moaned into the beanbags. He was lying face down, with Morgana sitting on the couch and trying not to pander to his depressed mood.

“Of course you do, you’ve always been emotionally stunted. Like father, like son,” she tutted, looking over some of her own work.

“What should I do Morgana?” he mumbled.

“I’d suggest telling him how you feel, but somehow I don’t think you’ll take that suggestion to heart.”

“He’d reject me if I told him,” he sighed.

“And you know that how?” she questioned him.

Arthur turned his face so that he was no longer being muffled by the beanbags and was facing her. “He’s too good for me.”

“Get rid of the ‘too’.”

“He’s…good for me?”

“Exactly,” Morgana agreed. “He doesn’t put up with your bullshit, and minus these stupid mood swings of yours that you're going through, he actually makes you happier than I’ve seen you be in a long time.”

“That doesn’t mean he likes me…like _that_ , y’know,” he argued.

“Regardless of your long time grudge, I’d actually be rather surprised if he wasn’t interested in you.”

Arthur just humphed, turning his face back into the beanbags. What Morgana was saying wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “This is utterly torturous and I don’t know what to do.”

“You’re telling me,” she sighed. “But guess what’s coming up in about two weeks?”

“What?”

“The 14th of February,” she said.

“No. No no no nooooooooo,” he groaned. “Not Valentine’s Day.”

“It’s the perfect opportunity, Arthur, and I’d suggest you get on it otherwise he’ll be snatched up by some other handsome bachelor,” she told him.

“Ughhhhhh.”

\---

Regardless of Uther’s love for history and dramatics, he drew the line at Valentine’s Day. However, that didn’t stop Camelot High from celebrating it.

Lance and Gwen were big advocators for the celebration of Valentine’s, and regardless of Gwen’s absence, this year was no difference. Each year, students would be able to purchase anonymous roses for their friends or significant others. Alternatively, they could also pay a little extra and purchase a serenade. This consisted of a group of musically talented senior students going around to classes and serenading either a student or a teacher with a tacky love song. This wasn’t done out of affection and friendship like the roses, but rather as a joke to embarrass the student or teacher.

About a week before the day, Morgana tried to persuade Arthur to do some kind of gesture on the day.

“Nope. No way. I’m not going to, Morgana.”

“Oh, come on! This is the perfect opportunity!” she exclaimed, admonished.

Arthur narrowed his eyes. “This isn’t because of your stupid bet, is it?”

She bit her lip, looking slightly sheepish. “No... why would you think that?”

He grunted. “To be perfectly honest, I think Valentine’s Day is tacky and a stupid day for a confession of love.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course you think that. But come on. Just…give him a box of chocolates. Or a card. Or a rose. Wait, just a flower! It doesn’t even have to be a rose!” she persisted.

“Nope. Not doing it.”

“Make it anonymous then! He doesn’t even have to know!”

“Anonymous?”

Morgana nodded. “Buy him a rose through the school. He’ll get it on the day and won’t know who it’s from! It’s perfect!”

Arthur considered it. It meant he wouldn’t necessarily have to confess his feelings, but instead send some kind of token of his affections toward him. All of a sudden, he was imagining what the day would be like. If Merlin were to receive a rose from a secret admirer, how would he react? Arthur could only imagine that he’d be slightly flustered, that he would blush and grin widely…

“Arthur?” Morgana said, bringing Arthur out of his daydream.

“Er, yes?”

“I’m taking it that you’re going to send him a rose then?” she teased. He scowled at her, wishing she would leave him in peace.

\---

Arthur is convinced now that time is out to get him. First it went too slow, now the lead-up to Valentine’s has gone too fast for his liking. Throughout the week his mind lingered on whether or not he would regret sending Merlin an anonymous rose. In the mean time, they would continue to see one another frequently, whether it was just for musical rehearsals or for the sake of each others company.

Thanks to his brain not being able to shut up for a decent night’s sleep, Arthur had rocked up to school bright and early at the hour of 7am. What he completely forgot was that on Valentine’s Day, the students in charge of the roses had already been there since about 5am, collecting and organising all the flowers for the individual classes. It was a blatant reminder of the day to come, and after his bad night’s sleep, Arthur’s nerves were shot to hell.

He quickly made himself a strong coffee and disappeared to his prep room, planning to hide there for as long as possible. He didn’t want to think about how awful this whole day made him feel.

“Knock knock, brother dear,” a familiar voice greeted him only half an hour later, making him groan.

“Why are you here so early?” he moaned.

Morgana stood in the doorway and raised an eyebrow. “I was going to ask you that exact same thing, but…you look like shit. Rough night?”

“Something like that,” Arthur sighed. He really didn’t want to have to deal with his harpy sister at this time in the morning on such little sleep.

“So did you actually send Merlin a rose?” she asked.

“You sent Merlin a rose?!” Lance exclaimed as moved past Morgana and bounded into the history prep room.

Arthur scowled. Great. It was bad enough Morgana was involved, but did Lance have to know as well? “S’none of your business,” he grumbled.

“Did he send Merlin a rose?” Lance eagerly asked Morgana.

“All signs point to yes,” she said.

“Oh, good! I really wanted Gwen to win the bet,” he smiled.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, I’m working in my classroom,” Arthur snapped, picking up his work and heading to his room. He locked the door and hoped that he wouldn’t be disturbed any further.

\---

At 8:30, when classes start, there’s a knock on Arthur’s classroom door. Outside stand two students, holding a bucket full of roses. Oh God, what did they want?

He opened the door for them.

“Good morning, Mr Pendragon!” they greeted him cheerily.

“Good morning, how can I help you two this morning?”

The girl pulled a rose out of the bucket and thrust it toward him. “Delivery for you. One rose,” she beamed.

“Er, thank you,” Arthur replied, a growing blush beginning to appear on his cheeks. The students left quickly, having more classrooms to go to.

Arthur twirled the rose around in his hand, and then held it up to his nose so he could smell it. His question now though was who sent the rose? In the past, Gwen had often sent roses to the staff members, but this year she wasn’t here. It probably wasn’t Lance, it definitely couldn’t be Morgana or his father. So could it be….?

Very quickly, Arthur was realising he was getting his hopes up, and tried to quell them as best he could. But this rose didn’t just come from nowhere. And with the exception of Gwen, Arthur didn’t exactly get roses on Valentine’s Day. His case was looking better and better by the second. There was a good chance that Merlin had actually sent him this rose. Which means he probably liked Arthur as well!

Hopeful, Arthur decided that there would be no better time to confess his feelings other than before today’s lunchtime rehearsal.

\---

Arthur made a bit of effort to rock up a little earlier than normal so that he could catch Merlin while he was still in the drama prep room. This was it, this was a moment. This rose; it had to be a sign. Regardless of what he had said previously about Valentine’s being tacky to tell someone how you felt, this was most definitely the chance he had been waiting for. First, he would approach Merlin and ask him if he got a rose. Then he would ask if he knew who the sender was, and finally…he would reveal the truth.

Arthur arrived at the drama department, and peered in the doorway to see Merlin sitting at his desk, hunched over some work. He looked up, fiddling with something that’s next to him but out of Arthur’s view. Arthur cleared his throat to get his attention, and when Merlin saw him he grinned.

“Arthur! You’re early. Is there something you need?” he asked, walking toward where Arthur was standing in the doorway.

Before he can answer, something catches Arthur’s eye. Behind Merlin, hidden from his line of sight, were two roses sitting together in a mug of water. Instantly, Arthur’s heart falls. Merlin got two roses? One was from him, so who’s was the other?

“Arthur?” he asked again, looking worried.

Arthur quickly plastered his best fake smile on his face, hoping Merlin wouldn’t see his true emotions. “Ah, just thought I’d come by early in case there was anything that needed to be done before we rehearse.”

“Not really. But oh! I should show you the costumes that the Home Economics department was working on! They’ve finished the gorgeous yellow dress for Belle,” he told him, pointing to where it was hanging from a cupboard handle in the room.

“Wow, it does look stunning. They did a great job,” Arthur said, feeling as though his tone fell slightly flat. Merlin doesn’t seem to notice, thankfully.

“They did, and the skirt has been made separately so that it is easier to change in and out of, as it’s a quick change,” Merlin replied thoughtfully.

“Ah, that’s good,” Arthur agreed.

“Anyway, I suppose we’d better get out there so rehearsal can begin,” he said, pushing past Arthur to head toward the stage.

Arthur’s gaze fixated again on the two roses. Was it that someone else liked him? Or maybe one of their colleagues had sent all the teacher’s roses. Then did that mean Arthur’s rose wasn’t from Merlin after all?

Fucking hell. He knew he shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up after all.

\---

In the middle of rehearsing ‘Belle’, Arthur heard the main doors at the top of the PAC opening, with the sound of students bustling around excitedly as they made their way down the stairs. When he turned to see what the deal was, he had to stifle a groan at the sight of some of the music students looking camp in their red and pink clothing, one of them holding a guitar. Oh great, just what he needed during rehearsal was one of his students being serenaded. Not only would it waste their time, but it would create a level of hype that wouldn’t go away for the rest of the practice.

“Can I help you?” he asked them irritably when they approached him.

“We have a serenade for you, Mr Pendragon,” they said, and Arthur felt the blood drain from his face.

_Oh no._

“There must be some kind of mistake-“ he started.

“I’m afraid not, sir. It’s been paid for and everything. And it was requested to happen specifically at lunch,” one of the girls replied cheekily.

Arthur couldn’t help but groan. That groan was amplified when he noticed a congregation of teachers that had gathered at the top of the stairs, all watching on with amusement. Much to his chagrin, Morgana was among them. He was only thankful that his father wasn’t there as well. Could this _get_ more humiliating?

A snicker from behind him got his attention and then he realised; Merlin was watching as well. Great, turns out it actually could.

Two of the boys from the group manhandled him into one of the red PAC chairs. [One of the girls placed a pink feather boa around his neck, and a tacky, plastic tiara in his hair](https://www.dropbox.com/s/1ejnuwsita6t8jq/Untitled.png?dl=0). Out of the corner of his eye he could see Merlin holding up his phone, filming the humiliation that was the next few minutes. Great, now it was going to be immortalised on video as well! 

As soon as everyone settled, the group began singing their own rendition of ['What Makes You Beautiful](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJO3ROT-A4E)' by One Direction, making Arthur cringe.

 _"You're insecure,_  
_Don't know what for,_  
_You're turning heads when you walk through the door,_  
_Don't need make-up, to cover up,_  
_Being the way that you are is enough."_

He scowled at a laughing Merlin, and dreaded to think what the rest of the teaching body reactions were like. Morgana was going to bring this up for the next ten years at every family gathering, he just knew it. Not to mention that he was now the laughing stock of all his musical students thanks to this. He would never live this moment down. 

 _"Baby you light up my world like nobody else,"_ they sang, and one of the boys leaned in and stroked his face. Arthur scrunched up his nose at the contact, hating every second of this.

 _"The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,_  
_But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,_  
_You don't know, oh oh,_  
_You don't know you're beautiful,_  
_If only you saw what I can see,_  
_You'll understand why I want you so desperately,_  
_Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,_  
_You don't know, oh oh,_  
_You don't know you're beautiful, oh oh,_  
_That's what makes you beautiful."_

With that they finished, and a loud applause broke out, cheering and whistling joining the spectacle. When Arthur looked back up the stairs, he noticed that a large audience seemed to have gathered, made up of students from across all the grades, some he taught and some he didn't.

This was absolutely the worst day of his life.

(Maybe he was overreacting. But still).

"Alright, alright, you've had your fun, now scram," he snapped at those who weren't there for rehearsal. They quickly left, taking the feather boa and tiara with them. However, it didn't deter Gwaine or Morgana who started heading down the stairs to see Arthur. 

"My my, Arthur, you do look rather fetching with a pink feather boa. New addition perhaps for the next Pendragon family reunion?" Morgana taunted. 

"Unless you have anything to say about the sets, I'd suggest you leave immediately," he snarled at her, though she wasn't perturbed by his attitude. 

 "Whatever you say, brother dearest," she replied, sweeping past him and towards Merlin.  

“The tiara suits you, _princess_ ,” Gwaine teased. Arthur just glared at him until he quickly walked away. 

Looking at his musical cast, he could already tell he wouldn't be able to get anything more out of them after that humiliating display. They were all too excited and wound up to rehearse decently. 

"You're all dismissed, but I expect 100% effort in the next rehearsal," he sighed, watching as his students left eagerly. 

Arthur sat down on the steps on the stage, staring off into the distance in a daze. This day had been a disaster. Not only had his rose been totally meaningless to Merlin, he had also been completely embarrassed in front of him for life. Could things get any worse than this?

"That was brilliant," Merlin giggled when he sat down next to Arthur on the steps.

"Shut up, _Mer_ lin."

Merlin stayed silent, but only for about five seconds. "It was me."

"What?"

"I was the one who sent you the serenade," he said quickly. Arthur saw him tense up, clearly waiting for an explosion.

"W-why?!" Arthur asked. _Merlin_ had sent him the serenade???

"Thought it would be funny. Also to get back at you for the misery that was the beginning of us working together," he explained.

Arthur rolled his eyes, but smiled all the same. He did suppose he deserved it for what he put Merlin through at the beginning of the school year.

That didn't stop him from elbowing him though.

"Prat," Merlin retaliated, elbowing him back.

"Idiot," Arthur muttered, pulling Merlin into a headlock and roughly ruffling his hair up.

"Ah, ah!" Merlin shouted until Arthur let him go. He wasn't too impressed but as soon as Arthur grinned at him, Merlin couldn't help but smile back. 

"Anyway, I'd best be off. I have a class to teach," Arthur said, standing up. "I'll see you around."

"See you."

He hastily headed up the stairs to the main entrance of the PAC. There was a lot running through his mind, particularly the fact that it was very obvious Merlin would never be interested in him romantically. He didn't send Arthur a rose; he sent him a serenade which wasn't out of affection but rather (harmless) vengeance. It was very clear to him that his feelings would never be returned. Feeling hopeless, he returned to his prep room, grabbing the rose from this morning and throwing it in the trash. 

\--- 

Rehearsals continued, with the show starting to come together bit by bit. The songs were starting to sound good, the blocking was getting better, and scenes were starting to work together as one act. Some of the larger scenes, like the mob, were still messy and needed polishing, but overall, things were going smoothly.

Of course, nothing could ever stay this way for long.

One by one, the leads started to get sick. It was inevitable and happened during every musical, but this time it seemed…worse. They were practically dropping like flies. Miranda (Mrs Potts) had lost her voice, and Dan (Lumiere) had missed the last few rehearsals because he had the flu. Michael (Gaston) had also become rather unwell, and while he was still able to do his acting, he had been informed by a doctor to not sing; to rest his voice until he was better.

“We have to still rehearse ‘Maison Des Lunes’ though, not to mention ‘The Mob Song’ and ‘The Battle’,” Merlin told Arthur that afternoon at the beginning of the rehearsal.

“We can’t put it off and rehearse some of the castle centric songs?” he asked.

Merlin shook his head. “The choreography with the mob and battle is in desperate need of rehearsing, regardless of how Gaston is feeling. Not to mention that the band have started to join us for rehearsals, and the more time we can rehearse the songs, the better.”

Arthur looked in the direction of the band. They were all set up to play, and he knew that they all needed to start rehearsing together to make sure it was going to run smoothly on the performance nights.

“Fine. But what are we going to do about Michael? These are some of his biggest numbers, and we need someone to sing it,” Arthur pointed out.  

Merlin smirked. Arthur did not like the look on his face. It looked like he had some kind of scheme in mind, and there was a good chance Arthur was about to get the wrong end of the stick.

 “Well, you see, I have this idea…”

\---

And that is how Arthur ended up playing Gaston for the rehearsal.

Merlin had decided to send Michael home for him to recover, and convinced Arthur to take on the role, seeing as he knew the blocking, and the songs, not to mention he was burlier than Merlin and would actually look the part. (Arthur just thinks that that last reason was the only way Merlin was going to get out of playing Gaston himself). Arthur had been reluctant, but as soon as Merlin threw his best puppy-dog eyes his way, he couldn’t refuse.

He was given one of the headset microphone for him to say his lines into, not to mention that Merlin forced him into wearing the red vest part of the costume.

Some of the students who were supposed to be working backstage were sitting in the seats, watching as Arthur moved around the stage saying his lines. He was bracing himself for having to sing the ‘[Maison Des Lunes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Dam61m8DY&list=PLA8VHLKYzqTsJHFPIYgDgLm8V7cFW5ctk&index=17)’. It wasn’t that he couldn’t sing; he was able to hold a tune rather well, and though he wasn’t anything spectacular, he’d been in his fair share of musicals back in his own school days. However, he hadn’t had practise singing this song, and the fact that Merlin was watching made him a bit nervous.

The music started playing, signalling that he was going to have to sing in a few seconds. Clearing his throat, he hoped he wouldn’t fuck it up as he began.

 _“_ _There's a danger I'll be thwarted,_  
_And denied my honeymoon._  
_For the pretty thing I've courted,_  
_Refuse to swoon._

_So the time has come for a murky plan,_

_For which I turn to a murky man,”_ Arthur sang, turning to glare at a highly amused Merlin. The students who were sitting in the front rows of the PAC looked thoroughly entertained.

With Nathan, the student who was playing LeFou, they sang the lines they had together.

_“Where better than  
The Maison des Lunes?”_

Nathan did the choreography at the same time for the song. Arthur attempted to do the same, but was slightly out of time. He could see Merlin trying very hard not to laugh at him. But Arthur wasn’t done yet, and he figured if Merlin was going to laugh at him he may as well put on a decent show.

Puffing out his chest and trying his best to appear arrogant, Arthur launched into the next lines of song, not holding back.

 _“I don't take this girl for granted_  
_There's no path I haven't hewn_  
_To her heart; no seed unplanted_  
_No flowers unstrewn_  
_But quite amazing to relate_  
_She doesn't want me for her mate._ ”

 _“Which forces him to contemplate,”_ Nathan sang as Arthur stomped about the stage.

 _“The Maison Des Lunes,”_ they sang together, and much to Arthur’s relief he got the choreography right this time!

Eliott, the student playing Monsieur D’Arque, began to chime in with his part, as Arthur continued to move around proudly.

 _“I don't wish to seem a tad obtuse_ _  
But I don't see how I can be of use,”_ he sang. At that moment, Arthur made eye contact with Merlin who was gaping at him. He collected himself together as soon as he realized Arthur had noticed him staring. Arthur couldn’t help but smirk as Merlin scowled.

 _“It's Belle's father who's your client_  
_She adores the old buffoon_  
_She'll be forced to be complaint,_ ” he sang, fiercely determined to prove himself to be a fantastic Gaston.

The song continued on, with Arthur continuing to roam around the stage, singing his lines whenever necessary and trying his best to get the choreography right. Although he wouldn’t admit it, he was having quite a lot of fun playing Gaston, more than he thought he would when Merlin persuaded him to do so.  

As the end of the song hit, Arthur stood up on one of the chairs, so he was towering over Nathan and Elliot.

 _“_ _So book the church; raise the glasses high  
To the Maison des Lunes!”_ they all chimed in together, raising up the prop pitcher’s.

With that the song finished, and all the students watching applauded them.

Arthur grinned, and went down the stairs at the front of the stage to meet Merlin who looked stunned after the performance.

“How did I do?” he asked, puffing his chest out in pride.

“You would make a good Gaston,” Merlin smirked, grabbing and squeezing Arthur’s bicep.

“Hmm, is that right?” Arthur flexed his muscles, his heart racing at the contact and compliment. 

“Mmm, yes, you’re just as much of a prat as he is,” he said, letting go of his arm and walking away to where some students were waiting to ask him questions.

Arthur gaped at his cheek, but couldn’t help the smile that followed. Merlin was definitely impressed, even if he wouldn’t say it. Arthur would even go as far to say that Merlin may have been flirting with him...

“Do you still want me to play him for the mob scene and the battle?” Arthur called after him.

Merlin turned around. “I’m thinking on it. We wouldn’t want to inflate your ego more than it already has been, now, would we?” he grinned.

Arthur just rolled his eyes, and went to check his phone while the students were getting ready to set up the next scene. Much to his surprise, he discovered about 10 missed calls, 20 texts, and 6 voicemails from Morgana.

“What the…” Arthur started, but was interrupted by his phone buzzing again, Morgana’s name flashing on the screen. Quickly, he answered.

“Morgana?”

“Oh, Arthur, finally! I’m so sorry, I know you’re rehearsing, but this is urgent,” she told him, sounding stressed out.

A feeling of dread crept into his stomach. Something was definitely wrong, he could just tell from her tone of voice.

“What is it?” he asked.

“It’s Uther. He’s gone into hospital.”    

      

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUN! Sorry to leave you all on a cliffhanger! (Or am I....)  
> Thanks for reading this update, kudos and comments are always welcome if you enjoyed. Feedback as well is also appreciated! xx
> 
> Fun facts: The whole valentine's gig is legit what we did at my old high school-they would actually sing 'What Makes You Beautiful' to some people, as well as 'Baby' and 'Love Story' to others. And yes, you would be given a bright pink feather boa and a tiara. It happened to me twice -_-
> 
> When Arthur plays Gaston's part - this was something that actually happened when our Gaston was sick, with my own history teacher taking on the role, and it was very humorous! I have it recorded as well haha (but unfortunately I'm not going to show it to you because privacy :P)


	6. No Matter What

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _His heart was thrumming quickly in his chest, anxiety building in his stomach. He’d been in such a panic that he’d only gotten the details of which hospital Uther was at from Morgana before he tried to tell Merlin what was going on, then ran out the door. And now he was here. ___
> 
>  
> 
> _  
> _Chapter the sixth; Arthur loses it (just a little) but Merlin proves to be a steady shoulder to lean on._  
>  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeee, so close to the end now! Thank you to everyone who's read it so far and given their support, I appreciate it so much! Next update will at the latest be 30 Nov (or 1st December AEST). 
> 
> For the medical stuff: I did do some research so it should be accurate, but none of this has been beta'd so sorry for any inaccuracies. Let me know of anything I may have gotten wrong and I'll be happy to change it.
> 
> As per usual, all character's belong to the BBC and Shine.

Arthur walked as quickly as he could from his car to the hospital. His heart was thrumming quickly in his chest, anxiety building in his stomach.

He’d been in such a panic that he’d only gotten the details of which hospital Uther was at from Morgana before he tried to tell Merlin what was going on, then ran out the door. And now he was here. He didn’t even know what was wrong with his father, other than that it was something serious enough for Morgana to call Arthur sounding distressed while she knew he was still running rehearsals.

As Arthur walked into the hospital in a panic, he became overwhelmed. He could hear computer noises, quiet and loud chatter, a child screaming, wheels rolling along the smooth tile floors, a dripping tap, beeping of a vending machine, the clicking of heels as people moved around him-

“Arthur,” Morgana gasped from beside him.

He turned to her, flinging his arms around her in a strong and loving embrace.

“Oh, God, Arthur,” she sobbed into his shoulder.

“What’s happened? Is he okay?” he asked, pulling back from the hug.

Morgana bit her lip. “He’s had a heart attack,” she whispered.

“Fuck,” Arthur hissed, trying to restrain himself from tearing his hair out.

“There’s a chance he’ll be okay, but - it’s too early to say,” she told him, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

“Where is he now? What are they doing?”

She looked away, hesitating, before looking back at him.

“They’re operating on him currently,” she said with a calm tone, so as to not upset Arthur.

Arthur swallowed, nodding and trying his best not to panic or freak out.

“What now?”

“We wait until the doctor comes to speak to us.”

Arthur sighed. It looked like it was going to be a long night.

\---

As Arthur waited, he ran over his idiotic farewell to Merlin in his head.

 

_“I have to go,” he had blurted to a rather surprised Merlin._

_“Ok?”_

_“My father’s gone into hospital. Morgana just called me about it, I need to see him, oh God, what if he’s dying, I don’t even know what’s wrong, I-“ Arthur panicked, verging a breakdown. Merlin grabbed his shoulders, grounding him before he could get carried away._

_“Arthur, it’s ok, go, ok? Call me if you need anything. I’ll finish up here,” he replied gently, stroking Arthur’s cheek soothingly._

_Arthur nodded, and without so little as a goodbye he dashed out the door._

 

“I can hear you thinking,” Morgana cut in through his thoughts.

“No, you can’t,” Arthur replied vehemently.

Morgana took his hand, squeezing it gently. “Don’t shut away your thoughts and emotions, Arthur. It’s not good for you.”

Arthur nodded, clearing his throat that was choked up with tears.

“I’m surprised you’re so worried, Morgana. You and father have never had the best of relationships.”

Morgana mulled over his statement for a moment. “No, we haven’t. But that doesn’t stop him from trying to be a better father, though he is pants at it. Nor does it stop me from trying to be a better daughter, even though I let my temper get carried away. Our relationship is…messed up, and it will never get even close to being perfect. But, at the end of the day,” Morgana continued, taking in a deep breath, “I do love him. And he loves me. And that’s all that matters.”

That brings a smile to Arthur’s face. Once, Morgana and Uther couldn’t bear to live with one another. When Morgana was 18, she was constantly snapping at Uther, and he wouldn’t exactly fight back with…tact. Arthur loved both of them dearly, and it killed him when they didn’t get along. So he was glad to see that age had changed things, had mellowed them both.

“Arthur?”

“Mmm?”

“I know you don’t like talking about it. That you would rather deflect, or ignore, or pretend it doesn’t exist. And maybe it doesn’t help that I tease you also, but…I just wanted to say that I think you’d be mad not to pursue Merlin. Ah,” Morgana cut him off before he could speak, “let me finish. I think you’re also mad to not see how much he likes you to. And I know that perhaps now isn’t the best time to go looking for a relationship, but I’d suggest you’d at least think about it. Please,” she begged.

“Do I have to?” he whined.

Morgana sat forward, turning to look him in the eye. “He makes you a happier, kinder, better person. You don’t have to, no, but I think you’d be damn stupid if you don’t want to,” she chuckled.

That made Arthur smile. “Alright, yes, I’ll think about it. But it’s not priority at the moment, and it won’t be until the musical is done.”

“Ok. Fair enough,” Morgana nodded, a small smile appearing on her face.

“Morgana Pendragon?” Someone called her name. Both of them stood up, looked at one another and nodded, ready to face the music. Then, together, they faced the music.

\---

“So he’s ok?”

The nurse nodded. “He will be, but we’ll need to keep him admitted for a couple of nights just to make sure. He’s well on the road to recovery, and he’s been given a pacemaker as well.”

“That’s-that’s good,” Arthur sighed.

“We will most likely talk to you both when he is able to go home about further details. For now, I’d suggest you both go home, as visiting hours have been over for a while. He’ll be in good care, don’t you worry,” she smiled, trying to comfort the two siblings.

“Thank you,” Morgana replied wearily. The nurse smiled at them again and then headed back to her station. The two of them headed for the doors, unable to do much else other than go home and try to sleep.

When they reached Arthur’s car, Morgana grabbed his arm. “Whatever you do, _don’t_ go into work tomorrow, ok?”

“But-“

“You’re tired, you’re stressed about not only this but the musical – the world will continue spinning if you’re not there for one day. Work at home if you must, come in and visit Uther, but don’t go to work,” she reasoned.

Arthur nodded reluctantly. “Ok. Ok, fine, I’ll take the day off.”

“Good. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, walking to where her car was parked two rows away.  

\---

Arthur knows he should listen to Morgana more. She has a rather annoying habit of being right about…well, everything. But that never stopped him from doing his own thing, instead of taking heed of her advice.

This means that the next day he still arrived at school at his usual time of 7:30am. He was completely and utterly shit-faced - he’d hardly slept, instead deciding to work late so if need be he could leave school early and visit the hospital.

“Hey, Arthur-woah, you look tired. You alright?” Lance said as he walked into the history prep room, holding a steaming mug of coffee.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Arthur bristled, going back to looking at his work.

“Ok…” Lance trailed off, not sounding entirely convinced.

“Hey Lance, I was thinking…” a familiar voice came from the doorway. “Arthur? What are you doing here?” Merlin said.

Lance frowned. “Uh, he works here?”

Merlin looked confused. “Yeah, but you don’t look like you slept at all! And shouldn’t you be at the hospital anyway?”

“Hospital?” Lance asked. Arthur looked down and bit his lip. He really didn't want people prying, he just wanted to do his work and be done with it.

“His father’s unwell. He was taken into hospital yesterday. Morgana rang, it sounded serious,” Merlin explained.

“It was a heart attack,” Arthur added quietly.

“What?!” Lance exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me? I mean, he’s the headmaster of Camelot so we would have found out eventually, but you should’ve said something! God, Arthur…”

“I can’t just stop life for one day because my father is sick,” Arthur argued weakly.

“No. No way. You’re going home right now, you cabbagehead! You’re sleeping, and then you’ll go to the hospital later to see your father,” Merlin ordered him.

“I’m not leaving, certainly not to sleep. I may,” Arthur conceded, “leave school early to go to the hospital.”

“You…didn’t even dignify my insult with a response!?” he sounded offended. “That’s it, you’re out of your mind, you have to go home. Lance, help me,” he said, and suddenly the two men were trying desperately to manhandle Arthur out of his chair and out the door. Together they were strong, sure, but there was no way they’d make it to the car if Arthur kept struggling.

“Argh-get off me!” Arthur snapped, tugging away from their grip as best he could. Still, they persisted, managing to get him standing out of his chair (and making Arthur blush when he felt Merlin’s hand brush his arse). But Arthur continued to pull away until they gave up, puffing.

“This isn’t over,” Merlin raged. Arthur rolled his eyes.

Then, he whispered something in Lance’s ear, and very quickly Lance left.

“What are you up to?” he asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion at a sheepish looking Merlin.

Instead of answering his question, Merlin came and kneeled down next to him, taking Arthur’s hands in his own.

“Just for now, I don’t want you worrying about the musical, okay? I can handle it on my own for a week or so until things are less stressful. Don’t,” Merlin started as Arthur opened his mouth, “argue with me on this one. I know what I’m doing. I’ll enlist help from Gwaine and Lance and Leon and Percy if I have to. Just take a break, Arthur. You always take too much on yourself.”

Arthur was still reluctant, but it seemed he was to have no choice in the matter when Lance returned with Percy at his side. He barged into the room, picking Arthur up out of his chair with his strong arms, flinging him over his shoulder and carrying him out the room. Merlin and Lance grabbed the rest of Arthur’s things, following Percy as he carried Arthur through the school (much to the amusement of the students already there).

Finally, Arthur was placed down by his car. Lance unlocked it and Merlin shoved all his stuff into the passenger seat. Percy pushed Arthur to the driver’s door, opened it and sat him inside, getting the keys and giving them to him.

“Now go home, sleep, go to the hospital later, and don’t even think about coming back to school until you’re ready. Ok?” Merlin instructed him.

Arthur, too weary to argue, just nodded in agreement, turned his car on and drove home. When he got there, he set his alarm for a few hours later, collapsed into bed and passed out before he knew it.

\---

When he got to the hospital later that day, Morgana was already there wearing a disapproving look on her face.

“Hello, dear sister,” he greeted her.

“Arthur, what did I tell you yesterday about taking the day off from work today?” she asked with a stone cold expression.

“That I needed to because I am stressed and tired and that the world’ll keep turning if I don’t go into work for one day,” Arthur sighed.

“Merlin rang me mid morning and told me how you had to be manhandled away from Camelot because you looked like you would pass out from exhaustion at any second,” she tutted.

“Well, Merlin’s a tattle tale, and I was perfectly fine to work,” Arthur grumbled.

“Arthur, nobody’s expecting you to be perfectly functioning while you’ve not only got your normal work, but a musical and a father who’s unwell. You’re only human.”

Arthur just let his gaze rest on the door of Uther’s room. She was wrong. There was always someone expecting it of him.

Sensing his doubt, Morgana grabbed his shoulders and rolled her eyes. “Not even Uther should be able to expect it of you, ok? And if he dare mentions a word about your work, I swear to God, I’ll-“

“Leave the room so as to not give the man another heart attack,” he cut in smoothly before she could launch into a rant.

She huffed. “Fine. Fine. But his is one opinion against everyone else’s, ok? Don’t forget that.”

He nodded, and with that they headed into the room. Uther was lying in the bed looking slightly out of it.

“Hello, father,” Arthur greeted him quietly.

“Arthur? Morgana? What are you two doing here?” Uther started, slurring slightly. Must be the drugs post-surgery, he thought.

“We’re visiting you,” she said, taking a seat by the bed.

“Oh.”

“How are you feeling?” Arthur asked.

“Well, I’ve been better,” Uther grumbled, but he couldn’t compose himself long enough, letting a smile slip.

The two siblings exchanged glances. Did their father just…try and crack a joke?

“Shouldn’t you two be at work?” he asked.

“Er, well…we’ve taken some time off, just to re-cooperate in this stressful time,” Arthur explained.

“Ah,” he nodded, wincing slightly. “Hopefully not for too long, though, especially you, Arthur. That musical can’t run by itself.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Morgana clench her jaw.

“No, but Merlin’s taking care of it for the time being,” Arthur told him.

“I see. Still. Work doesn’t wait for anyone,” Uther continued.

Just like that, Morgana stood up. “I’m feeling hungry. I’ll get us some food,” she stated, and then promptly left the room.

“You do realise you can’t go straight back to work, father. You’ll need to rest, and recover.”

“Oh, I know, I know. But I’m old, son. You’re young! You can cope with it,” Uther pointed out.

“I’m not as young as I used to be, dad,” he muttered.

“Still, Arthur, when I was your age, I would…”

Arthur sighed as Uther launched into one of his lectures. This was going to be one of many long hospital visits.

\---

“You’re back,” Merlin said curtly the next day when Arthur rocked up in the staff room at around 8am. It was already far later than he would usually be there, not to mention he planned to go home early as his last period was a free one.

“I am,” Arthur replied, taking a sip of his coffee.

“I thought you’d be resting,” he continued.

“My father would have my hide if he knew I was taking another day off,” Arthur said.

“Your father is a man who’s had a heart attack and is confined to a hospital bed, surely you can’t be very threatened by him!” he exclaimed.

“Merlin, it’s fine. Besides, other than sleeping, work keeps my mind off of things, ok? So just drop it,” he sighed.

Merlin looked like he wanted to say something else, but he hesitated. Then:

“I care about you, ok? I don’t want to see you burn out.”

Arthur felt rather warm and fuzzy inside at the revelation as Merlin walked out of the staff room to his own class.

\---

“He’s ready to go home. However, given his current living conditions, we would like to ask whether he could live with one of you for a few weeks,” the nurse informed them that weekend, eyeing the siblings carefully. “I’d suggest you make that decision before we discharge him.”

They both nodded and she left.

“He’ll come to mine. It’s settled,” Arthur said.

“Arthur, you are not taking him on as well,” Morgana started.

“If he lives with you for a fortnight there’s a good chance he’ll have another heart attack,” Arthur pointed out. Before Morgana could argue back, he continued. “You haven’t been able to visit him in his room for more than 5 minutes before you have to go outside to cool your head. Therefore, it’s settled.”

Morgana looked worried. “Arthur, you’re going to combust. Uther at your heels all the time in these next few, very stressful weeks isn’t going to be good for you.”

Arthur just shrugged. “It’s not like we have any other choice, do we?”

The decision was made. When Uther was finally discharged and Arthur briefed on a series of information on how to look after him (and given lots of pamphlets), they were able to leave. He decided that if he was going to put up with his father for a few weeks, he would much rather do it in his own home. They swang by Uther’s house, grabbing some clothes and any extra things he required (with Arthur forbidding any items of work), and then headed to Arthur’s.

He was instantly settled into the spare bedroom while Arthur cooked them dinner and read through some of the information he was given. Once Uther was content reading a book, Arthur was finally able to focus and send Merlin some emails to catch up on the latest with the musical.

\---

The thing about meltdowns is that they’re a recipe. It’s never one ingredient causing the trouble, it’s always a nasty mix that cooked for too long tends to explode into something nasty, vicious and inedible.

Arthur had all the ingredients and it was now just brewing. It was only a matter of time for something else to go wrong and for him to explode.

For a start, Uther was utterly unbearable to live with. Arthur had no idea how he did it during his own school and university days. He was a constant, overbearing presence when Arthur was working, not to mention he wouldn’t stop _complaining_ about every little thing! It was maddening!

In the mean time, his books had started piling up again and he dreaded the thought of having to entertain another semester of being ridiculously behind with all his work. Not to mention that the first exams and assignments were going to start rolling in and he _just wasn’t ready_.

Not to mention that he’s almost certain that Merlin doesn’t want to ever consider having a relationship with him. He had been (accidentally) snapping at him all week whenever he saw him and felt bloody miserable afterwards, always trying to apologise (in his own special way, because Pendragon’s weren’t the type to do so). But he could tell he was grinding on Merlin’s gears.

And finally, the musical. He loved it, he really did! But some of the sets and props were behind schedule, the flow was still a mess, the common cold was going through the entire cast and crew and ticket sales were lower than he wanted them to be.

All in all, it was insanity, and Arthur knew that one of these days he was going to snap.

It all came to a head during the afternoon rehearsal that was happening that week. They were two weeks out from the musical now; things were starting to get intense. About half of the chorus seemed out of it, and the other half were rather hyper and it just wasn’t working. The set changes were still painstakingly slow, and even though Merlin was trying his hardest to get things going more smoothly, no one seemed to be listening.

“Where’s Lauren?” Arthur asked Merlin about 20 minutes into rehearsal, after realising that their main lead wasn’t even there. (God, he must be losing it).

“Er, she had a doctor’s appointment and will be here later,” Merlin quickly explained, moving on to yell at some of the slackers in the chorus for ‘Gaston’.

“Oh.”

The rehearsal continued on with little progress in terms of the actual performance. At one point, Arthur even started getting snappy with all of them. He was just sick of everything at the moment, and just wanted one thing in his life to go right, for God’s sake!

The rehearsal ended soon enough and as it did, Lauren walked in looking utterly miserable. The rest of the student body piled out rather quickly, sick of being around the two rather grumpy teachers. Lauren looked nervous and Arthur could only dread what he was about to hear.

“Hello, Lauren, how did the appointment go?” Merlin asked gently.

Her bottom lip wobbled, and her eyes began to fill with tears. “I’ve been advised to rest my voice for the next week. And I can’t…I can’t do all of the rehearsals, or the dress and tech rehearsals, or…all of the performances. My health won’t allow it,” she cried.

Merlin nodded solemnly, while Arthur just gaped in shock.

“Hey, it’s ok, we’ll figure something out. Don’t worry, ok? Just focus on getting better,” Merlin soothed her.

“Thanks Mr Emrys, Mr Pendragon,” she sniffled, and then quickly left the PAC.

Arthur walked down the stairs, succumbing to the numb feeling that had overcome him. Everything was going wrong. Oh, god. He wasn’t even sure there was going to be a musical at the end of this!

“Arthur, are you ok?” Merlin asked from behind him.

Arthur whipped his head around and snapped, “Of course I’m not ok!” When he realised he'd snapped once again, he closed his eyes, rubbing at his temples as he felt a headache coming. "Sorry. I shouldn't have snapped," he winced.

Merlin scowled. “Right, that’s it. Come with me,” he grumbled, catching up to Arthur and dragging him up onto the stage. He positioned him so that he was looking directly into the audience of empty seats.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Merlin just raised his eyebrows. “You’ve got a stage, an audience, and a voice. I suggest you let it all out.”

Arthur looked into the seats, cleared his throat.

“I…ugh…I just, just…” he started, feeling the anger building in his chest.

“Go on,” Merlin provoked him. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s just…my father is driving me absolutely mad, not to mention that work is piling up!” He exclaimed. “And then, just everything keeps going wrong with the musical and, and…”

“And?”

“ARGHHHHH,” Arthur howled into the empty space, the sound resonating around him. “WHYYYYY! FUCKINGGG SHIT!” he screamed, thrashing about on the stage, stomping his feet.

He felt so weak, so pathetic and useless. Letting out a loud sob, he collapsed to his knees and began crying very hard. Very quickly, a set of arms wrapped themselves around him and he leaned into the comforting touch, crying it all out.

“It’s ok, Arthur,” Merlin whispered, gently stroking his hair as Arthur sobbed. “It’s all going to be ok. We will get through this, yeah? I’m here for you. You’re not alone.”

He continued whispering sweet nothings into Arthur’s hair as he let it all out, crying until he had nothing left to cry about. When he was more coherent, Merlin helped him into a standing position and helped him to one of the couches in the drama prep room. (Arthur didn’t question this at the time, but since when did they have couches? Maybe he should get some for his history room). He dozed for a short while as Merlin made some calls. Time passed (Arthur couldn’t tell how much) and soon he was being shaken awake by Merlin.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Better,” Arthur croaked.

“I thought you might. Come on, let’s go. I’m taking you to mine, you’ll stay the night there instead of at your flat with your father,” he told him softly.

Arthur looked up at him sadly. “But he can’t be alone, he can’t-“

“Shhh, I’ve called Morgana, she can manage him just for the night, ok?”

He nodded, giving into it. He really didn’t feel like going to his flat and seeing his father anyway.

“Good. Now come on, to my car.”

Sluggishly, Arthur walked alongside Merlin to his car and in the blink of an eye he was being shaken awake (again) and forced out of the car into his little place.

Stumbling inside, Arthur blinked to try and adjust to the lights that Merlin had turned on. Regardless of his conscious state, he felt rather out of it, sleep ready to claim him at any second.

“Are you hungry at all?”

Arthur just blinked and shook his head.

“Ok. Off to bed with you, then,” Merlin said, directing him through the house into a bedroom.

Specifically, Merlin’s bedroom.

In the centre of the room was a double bed, with bedside tables on both sides. On the left there was a door leading to a small ensuite bathroom, and next to it was a chest of drawers. Next to the door was a built in closet.

“Isn’t this your room?” Arthur asked, squinting when he turned on the lights.

“Yeah. I don’t have a spare, but that’s alright, I can sleep on the couch-“

“No, no, I’ll take the couch,” he told him, trying to make for the door. He was stopped by hands on his shoulders and turned back around.

“You need a comfortable night’s sleep, Arthur,” Merlin told him.

“Then…then you can sleep in the bed, with me,” his sleep addled brain decided.

“Errr, no, it’s ok,” Merlin stuttered, grabbing some clothes out of a chest of drawers. “Here, try these. They should be fine for you to sleep him,” he said, handing him a baggy band t-shirt and some loose sweatpants.

“Thanks,” Arthur mumbled, instantly stripping off his pants, only thinking of his goal to sleep. Merlin’s eyes widened and he very quickly left the room, leaving Arthur be.

Once Arthur was changed, he flicked the light off in the room and collapsed on the bed. It smelled of Merlin’s scent, instantly soothing him. Light still came in through the open door and Arthur could faintly hear Merlin heating up something in a microwave and talking to someone on the phone.

For the next hour or two he drifted in and out of sleep. It was as though as soon as his head hit the pillow he wasn’t even tired anymore, not to mention that the light coming through the door didn’t help (he always slept in pitch black).

He must’ve been dozing when Merlin entered the room to get a change of clothes. Arthur heard him go into his little ensuite bathroom, and then he re-emerged ready for bed. He could hear him trying to be ever so quiet in sneaking out of the bedroom, but before he could get out the door, Arthur mumbled:

“Get in the bed, _clotpole_.”

Merlin stopped moving. After a few seconds of silence, he felt the sheets lift up, the cool of the bedroom touching his skin and making him shiver slightly. Merlin settled in next to him, keeping his distance but Arthur wouldn’t have that. He rolled over, cozying up to his side. Merlin stiffened up next to him but he soon seemed to relax as Arthur fell into a deep sleep for the rest of the night.

\---

Arthur awoke to the sounds of birds chirping and sunlight on his skin. Groaning, he rolled toward his side of the bed, slowly opening his eyes. The alarm clock in front of him read 9:30am.

_9:30???_

_Shit!_

He bolted upright in bed, looking to his side to see if Merlin was there. The bed was empty.

Hang on a second…he invited Merlin to sleep in the same bed as him, didn’t he? Oh God, he must’ve been utterly delirious last night! Would Merlin know how he felt now? And if he did, how likely was it that he felt the same way?

Arthur glared at the hard-on he had been blessed with this morning and was unable to deal with. (Wanking in Merlin’s bed was an absolute no-no. The shower, on the other hand…)

Once Arthur was showered and dressed in his clothes from yesterday, he walked out into the kitchen to see some breakfast foods and a note left for him.

 

_Clotpole,_

_I decided not to wake you for work as you needed the sleep. It is up to you whether you take the day off or come into work late. (You know exactly what I’d advise but something tells me you won’t listen…)_

_I’ve left some breakfast ingredients out for you to make food of your choice. Apologies if my new age food isn’t up to your royal standards ;P_

_Hope you’re feeling better and well rested. I’ll see you later today. :D_

_Merlin_

 

Arthur smiled. He wasn’t too pleased that he wasn’t woken up for work, but the sentiment was there and that’s all that mattered. Something in him was given hope by all this; just how caring Merlin was, how he’d helped Arthur through his breakdown, how he hadn’t refused sleeping in the same bed together…

Arthur put some toast in the toaster (seeing as the bread was the most normal thing Merlin seemed to own in terms of breakfast food. And even then it was a little weird, new age, organic, vegan, gluten free loaf that Arthur had to drown in honey so it wouldn’t taste like cardboard).

Pulling out his phone, he called himself an uber to get to the school, and left in good time, relieved he would be there for second period.

\---

Lance’s eyes bugged out when Arthur walked in the door to the prep room. He’d made it with ten minutes to spare before class began after the break.

“What? Is there something on my face? I’m not tired, today, I swear,” Arthur said defensively, holding up his hands.

“No, it’s just…you’re wearing the same clothes as yesterday,” he pointed out.

“I stayed the night at Merlin’s, slept in and came straight from his here,” Arthur explained, giving no real context. (After all, he didn’t really want people knowing he had turned into a full on sobbing mess because the stress got the better of him).

“At Merlin’s?!” Lance exclaimed, his voice going rather high pitched.

It was only then that he realised how bad the lack of context was.

“Not like that!” he cried.

Lance just raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Oh, shut it you,” Arthur scowled.

“I didn’t even say anything,” Lance said.

\---

“Seeing as you’re here, I thought we could have a meeting during lunch and leading into fourth period. I made sure that all your classes were able to be covered by someone, and I’ve done the same for my last class,” Merlin said as Arthur chewed into a panini in the staffroom.

“Yeah, ok,” he agreed, keen to spend time with Merlin. Just because he’d spent the majority of yesterday evening with him, doesn’t mean he was actually with it enough to appreciate it.

“Let’s go to the drama prep room.”

\---

“I bought us supplies,” Merlin said as he pulled out a box of chocolates from his desk drawer. Arthur made an appreciative noise.

“Thank God,” he moaned, tucking into the box.

Merlin just rolled his eyes. “Sometimes, I swear you only keep me around for the food. First the pizza, now this…”

“That sounds about right,” Arthur smirked.

“Anyway, I came up with a solution for the Belle situation,” he started, looking a little nervous.

“And?”

“I suggest we get Joanna to learn Belle’s part, and she can practise it during the next lot of rehearsals that Lauren can’t do. They’ll both have to do some of the dress rehearsals planned, as well as share performance nights. It’s not ideal, given it’s so last minute, but it’s all we’ve got,” he explained.

“She has less than a fortnight to learn the whole part; that means all of the songs, the lines, the blocking…” Arthur gaped.

“We can’t change the performance dates. This is what we’ve got to work with. We’ll give her some special consideration with her school work to ease the pressure, but that’s all we can do.”

“What about Babette?” he asked.

“Babette is a small role, and can easily be filled by one of the better singers and dancer’s in the chorus on the night’s that Joanna performs.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow. “Is Joanna aware of this?”

Merlin gulped. “I spoke to her this morning. She’s considering it, as long as there’s special consideration for her school work. We’ll have a more definitive answer either today or tomorrow.”

“Ok. Ok, if she’s happy to play Belle…then that works,” he agreed.

Merlin’s eyebrows shot up at that. “Really? You’re agreeing with me? You hated my choice of Joanna as Belle, remember?”

Arthur scowled. “It’s not like we have much of a choice. And…she’s a good choice for Belle, I must say,” he conceded as Merlin punched the air in victory.

“Ha! I knew I was right,” he grinned.

Arthur rolled his eyes, but he was glad to see Merlin entertained.

“Is that all?” He asked.

Merlin shook his head. “Er, no. The other thing is that, well…after last night, I thought it might be best if we remove one of the stresses from your life, the easiest one to take out. And that’s your father,” he started.

“If you’re suggesting he stays with Morgana, she’ll have a meltdown of her own _tomorrow_ ,” he pointed out.

Merlin just bit his lip. “I know. Which is why I’ve arranged for him to stay with uncle Gaius.”

“Seriously?” Arthur exclaimed, eyes wide.

He nodded. “Yep! I spoke to him last night and he agreed. He’s a retired man and after having worked with your father for many years, he knows how to deal with him. Morgana took him to his place this morning, so your home is all yours,” he shrugged casually, as though he hadn’t done a completely wonderful thing.

“I cannot thank you enough, for everything you have done for me,” Arthur said, unable to stop smiling. Merlin blushed and looked down under the scrutiny of his stare. Arthur moved to give Merlin a hug of appreciation (which was at a rather awkward angle).

“S’no problem, I know you would do the same,” he mumbled.

“How can I repay you?”

Merlin scratched the back of his head. “Er, maybe just be here for all the rehearsals from now on? I love our cast but they’re starting to drive me a little bit mad, and I could use the company that isn't Morgana, Lance, Leon, Percy, or Gwaine,” he smiled.

Arthur grinned at what he was implying; that he preferred Arthur's company above all of theirs. “Of course, of course. I’m looking forward to it.”

Later that afternoon, Joanna finally confirmed that she would take on the role of Belle to fill in where Lauren’s health wouldn’t allow. The two directors organised for Grace to take on the role of Babette while Joanna played Belle, and rehearsals intensified.

This was it, the big crackdown. They didn’t have much more time to get this musical looking as good as it could be. Things were about to intensify dramatically as the time got shorter, and Arthur was both excited about it and dreading it. He knew with Merlin they could pull it together, but the real question was; would it all be done in time?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Kudos and comments are always welcome if you enjoyed :) xx can't wait for you all to read the final instalment!
> 
> Another fun fact: bc our school is on the small side, we didn't do understudies (until this year for a different musical, but only for two characters!). Our Belle really did get so sick that the girl who was playing Babette had to take the role and learn it in a week. She still did a fantastic job!
> 
> Pssst, if you're craving more Merthur, go read my latest one shot here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/8614915 ;)


	7. Tale As Old As Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Three days. That's all they had left. Three days and then it would be opening night. ___
> 
> __THE FINAL PART - in which there's rehearsals, stressful times, dance-off's, a lack of post-it notes, and the actual performances! But will there be love???_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS THE OFFICIAL FINAL PART! Thank you all who have read this fic and given feedback, I appreciate it greatly! (and because I love y'all so much, I've lined up a short epilogue ;) )
> 
> Thanks as well for your patience; i nearly didn't think i would get it done in time! As I type this, I will be leaving in less than 24 hours for an overseas trip for three weeks. It's a little bit crazy. Not to mention that this was the longest chapter I wrote, so yep. But it's here now so woo!
> 
> Character's belong to BBC and Shine, musical to Disney.

Three days. That's all they had left. Three days and then it would be opening night. 

Over these three days would be a numerous amount of dress and tech rehearsals, mixed in with stress, illness and general panic. Arthur just couldn't wait...

It had been decided that they would make use of the very expensive rights and perform the musical 5 times, with opening night starting on Tuesday, and proceeding throughout the week until closing night on Saturday. This meant that the weekend prior to the show was to be spent entirely at the school rehearsing. They'd also gotten special permission for Monday to be a long rehearsal day as well, with all the students involved being able to attend. 

Saturday morning and Arthur stood sleepily out the front of the school, deeply regretting his life choices. Every musical this would happen. In the build up Arthur would start to question why he did this to himself every time, and deciding that next year he would leave it to someone else. But as always, he would then enjoy it far too much to sacrifice it. 

"Morning," Merlin chirped, walking past Arthur and into the school. "You coming?"

"Mrphgrrr," Arthur groaned.

"I'll make you a coffee?" Merlin tempted him. 

He sighed and gave in, following after Merlin who was practically skipping he was that excited. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at the man, but there was a part of him that found it entirely too endearing. 

Once Arthur had his coffee he started to warm up to the prospect. He had to admit, spending three days doing rehearsals was far more interesting than planning lessons and marking books. 

Soon the students began to arrive. The cast were being instructed to get into their full costumes and makeup while the crew had a meeting and ran through all their cues. The truck-sets were finally complete, and they looked amazing. The idea was so simple and easy, yet it looked great on stage. As long as the backstage crew could get the hang of moving them around smoothly and quickly, the show would look great. 

For this first day, it would just be Joanna rehearsing Belle. Thankfully, she had managed to learn the part in a week and a half and was performing it mostly perfectly. Some of the choreography and blocking she was still struggling with, but Arthur knew it would be ironed out over the course of the weekend. Lauren would do the Sunday rehearsals as Belle, and then they would swap with one another on Monday.

The first full dress rehearsal was slow and painful. There were continuous issues with the tech and moving of the sets, and the flow from scene to scene just wasn't quite there. 

"This isn't going fast enough," Arthur moaned.

"It's the first full rehearsal. It's not going to be smooth. Things will come together in time," Merlin said. 

Despite Merlin’s words, Arthur was still rather worried. His father’s words kept repeating themselves in the back of his head. If this musical really did flop, would he cut all funding in the future?

For the rest of the first rehearsal they pulled out a stack of post-it notes and wrote down important details that they wanted fixed and changed from the individual leads, as well as the chorus and crew. As they did this, the battle scene played out. While it was coming together, it was far too slow and they were behind the music that accompanied the scene. The fight between Gaston and the Beast was fine, as was the transformation, but the necessary tech and sets weren't ready for it to be done properly. Gaston wasn't able to 'fall' off the castle for no mat had been placed, and because the smoke machine wasn't yet running, the transformation still looked messy. 

At the end of the first dress and tech run, they got everyone out onto the stage to talk to them. 

"Alright everyone, well done on your first full length, costume and tech run through!" Merlin started, and everyone cheered. "However we still have a long way to go. The performances themselves are getting better, however the transitions between scenes and the big choreography is still too slow and messy, so that's something everyone will have to work on."

"We also have written notes for all our leads on each of your performances about individual things that could use improvement," Arthur continued, holding up the post-it notes. "We will continue to give you notes over the weekend after each rehearsal, and we expect you to take it into consideration and make changes and improvements accordingly."

"And for the chorus and crew, we'll just give feedback to cover all of you as a group unless there's something individual we need to mention," Merlin added. "For now, you guys need to really exaggerate your movements more, especially in the choreographed dances. It might seem ridiculous, but if your movements are small, the people at the back of the PAC aren't going to see very well what you're doing. It needs to be bigger! Also, especially in numbers like 'Be Our Guest' and 'Human Again', you need to smile more. You're meant to be happy and hopeful, not sad."

"For the backstage crew, the set changes need to be faster. We may have to put down some markers on the stage for the trucks to sit on so you can line it up easily during the performance. Those who are side stage need to move as quickly and as efficiently as possible when it comes to moving props on and off the stage. Cast, please make note that the crew deserve priority in the wings during these changes. You aren't necessary until they're finished so keep out of their way," Arthur told them. 

"I think that's it for now, but we'll most likely have more to say after the second full run. But don't despair, you're doing great so far and it can only go up from here," Merlin smiled. 

"You're dismissed for a short lunch break, and we'll start another rehearsal in 45 minutes," Arthur dismissed them, turning to Merlin. "You really think it's going to be ok?" 

He shrugged. "Honestly, I can't say. But if I've learnt anything over my many years of working on and being a part of productions, it's that these shows always manage to pull together nicely, but it only ever happens at the last minute." 

He gave Arthur a reassuring smile, only to be met with a frown. “Cheer up, dollophead. I assure you, things will be fine,” he grinned, walking away pretty quickly.

Arthur gaped. Then called after him, outraged, “What the hell did you just call me?!”

Merlin just poked his tongue out at Arthur. He rolled his eyes, still annoyed, but somehow Merlin’s teasing seemed to make things just a little bit better.

\---

The second run through began, and things were still slow going with the truck set changes, but the props had had a significant improvement. They were being moved on and off much faster than ever before, even in time with the music. The battle scene was still too slow but the sets being moved throughout didn't help with that. The smoke machine kept on going on and off at the wrong times, and the headset microphones were a real wild card; sometimes they'd work, sometimes they wouldn't. The transformation was slower this time, with Connor (the Beast) coming on too late and missing the musical cue entirely.

It was a lot to fix, and Arthur knew that there would continue to be things going wrong, no matter how many changes they made. He was frustrated, because he could yell and stomp his feet as much as he wanted to, but it wouldn’t make a difference to how the show was being performed. All he could do was tell them what to do, and hope they would do it.

“We have to figure out what’s going on, there’s still too many things not going right,” Arthur muttered, gnawing at his fingernails. He never bit his fingernails unless he was incredibly anxious.

“We will, Arthur. Let’s talk to the people responsible for some of the tech and set issues individually so we can work out what the issue is and fix it. I’ll start with Connor about what happened with the transformation.”

“OK, I’ll go to stage right and ask about the microphones and smoke machine.”

Leon was overseeing stage right, as well as a girl, Natalia, who had the headset that allowed her to communicate with stage left and the top box.

“What’s happening with the microphones? Is there a reason they’re being rather sporadic?” he asked them.

“Well, it depends. Sometimes the batteries die, sometimes the mouthpiece is facing away from the actor, and sometimes its been either muted or turned off by the actors themselves,” Natalia explained.

Arthur nodded, frowning. “Do you know how the microphones work? Changing the batteries, turning them on and off, etcetera...”

“Um, yeah.”

“OK, good. You’re in charge of making sure that when the leads come through with the microphones to check them. Make sure the batteries are full, that the microphone is turned on and it hasn’t been muted. You’ll also need to adjust the mouthpiece before they go on stage so that it’s correctly turned to pick up the lines and songs, but it’ll need to be placed so we don’t get their breathing noises. Same thing will apply to stage left as well, someone will have to be in charge of that.”

“Yes, Mr Pendragon,” she said.

“Now, the smoke machine. It keeps on coming on too late and stopping late as well. We’ll need to change the cues for that as well,” he continued.

Soon enough all of that had been taken care of and he went to find Merlin.

“What was the deal with the transformation?” he asked as soon as he caught him.

“Taking too long to change. The shoulder pads for the Beast are difficult to remove in the short space of time so he’s just going to wear the coat over the top instead,” Merlin explained. “Currently, the crew are using gaffer tape to mark the stage where the trucks should be during certain scenes. They’ve also stuck up directions inside the trucks and they’ve been given torches to read them. Hopefully that’ll sort out the slow set changes,” he said.

“Ok. Ok, that’s good to know,” Arthur sighed in relief. “I was thinking…we don’t have enough time to run through the full show again until tomorrow, so perhaps we’ll rehearse Act 2? And we’ll try and clean up the battle scene as much as possible.”

Merlin smiled. “That sounds great, we’ll do that.”

So the second act was rehearsed once more, and much to both Arthur and Merlin’s relief it went much smoother. It still wasn’t perfect; the battle scene was not quite there, and every now and then the sets would bump into one another or continue to adjust during a scene, but it was an improvement.

Once all the students had cleared out, Arthur grabbed his keys and made for the door, walking past the drama prep room to wait for Merlin.

“You coming?” he asked, surprised that Merlin was sat at his desk on his laptop, typing furiously.

He looked up momentarily. “No, it’s ok, you go. I’ll lock up. I have to do this program, seeing as it hasn’t been done.”

Instantly, Arthur dropped his bag (and everything else, for that matter). “I’ll help you,” he said, barging into the room and taking out his laptop.

“Arthur, it’s fine, I can do this. You’re the one who’s been exhausted for weeks, you should take the extra time off,” he argued.

“It’ll be done quicker if I help,” Arthur insisted. “Besides, you helped me out when I was behind with my marking, I owe you one.”

“That was different!” he pointed out, but gave in anyway. “I suppose…I could use help with typing up all the cast and chorus names. I also need to record myself doing the voiceover for the prologue tonight,” he sighed.

“Exactly. How about you do that while I type up this, then you can finish the program off while I put the voiceover over the music track?” Arthur offered, grabbing his laptop from his bag.

“Alright,” Merlin rolled his eyes, but grinned anyway. He moved to the other end of the room with his laptop, and started to record as Arthur worked his way through the program.

“ _Once_ upon a time, in a _far_ _away_ land,” Merlin started to read in an overly dramatic voice. Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle quietly at the spectacle.

“A _young prince_ lived in a-oh, shut it, you’re putting me off,” he scowled as Arthur laughed at him.

“I’m sorry, sorry, but it’s just, well, a little over the top,” he chuckled. Merlin grumbled about something under his breath and decided to leave the room and record somewhere else.

Half an hour later he returned. Arthur handed him the program on his laptop (in which the majority of the cast and crew names had been typed up) and took the voiceover to put over the music to make sure the timing was right.

He placed it over the track without editing, just to see what it sounded like as a single recording. But what shocked Arthur the most was Merlin’s voice. Unlike before, it wasn’t over dramatic. Rather, he emphasised the correct words but his voice was so…deep. Arthur could feel himself turning red as he listened to him narrate, and he could only pray that he wouldn’t become hard (so much so that he had to focus on some other unappealing images to make sure of it).

“How’s it sounding?” Merlin asked, too distracted to actually look up from his laptop.

“Hmm, er…it’s-it’s good, yeah, I just need to time it,” Arthur stuttered, feeling himself blush again. He was just relieved Merlin was not looking his way, because that would just be mortifying.

“Good, good,” he muttered, not really paying much attention to Arthur anyway.

Arthur managed to fix up the voiceover so it was timed with the music, deleted the music and saved the file to give to the top box crew tomorrow, all without getting a hard on (quite the achievement). He figured if it wasn’t quite right, they could tweak it.

(He would still have to listen to it every time they started rehearsing and for all five shows. Fuck.)

\---

The second day seemed to start off much better than the first. Everything was moving faster and it was starting to come together more smoothly. Still, it wasn’t perfect and Arthur definitely feared that it wouldn’t be ready in time for opening night.

Instead of watching with him and giving feedback to the group, Merlin was working with the stage crew for this rehearsal, checking to see how they were going so he could give them some better feedback on how they could do. Thus, Arthur found himself essentially projecting all his stresses onto the post-it notes to give to the leads, chorus and crew.

During the first act of the second rehearsal they were doing, Merlin came over and started reading what he had written.

“Lumiere needs to hold his candlestick arms up straighter, Cogsworth more tense, Gaston more _buff_? …this is ridiculous, now you’re just being overly nit-picky!” he exclaimed, regardless of the performance going on in front of them.

“It is not,” Arthur sulked. “It has to be perfect.”

Merlin sighed. “Arthur, this show will never reach your standards of perfect, but believe me when I say it’s going to be pretty good.”

Arthur just huffed.

“You know what? You’re too ‘tightly wound’,” Merlin joked, prompting a glare from Arthur. “Er, well, anyway, you seem a bit stressed so I have a temporary solution to destress!”

“And what’s that?” Arthur frowned.

He just winked. “You’ll see.”

As ‘Be Our Guest’ came to a close, Merlin dragged Arthur backstage.

“Where are you taking me?” he whined. Merlin didn’t answer, instead he took him to the door for stage right from the backstage area.

“Go in there, find a good spot so you can see to the left wing, and follow the crew’s cue,” he grinned, not giving Arthur any more clues than that. With that, he took off.

Arthur walked into the wing as many of the chorus came off stage. Leon smiled at him in greeting, which Arthur politely returned. Across the stage, a figure waving at him from stage left grabbed his attention. It was Merlin, of course. What on Earth was he up to?

Soon enough, Belle was scared away by the Beast and the concluding song of act 1, ‘[If I Can’t Love Her](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMXR_4_gX84&list=PLA8VHLKYzqTsJHFPIYgDgLm8V7cFW5ctk&index=13)’ began to play. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the crew starting to shift around. Looks were being shared, and Arthur couldn’t help but feel confused.

_“And in my twisted face,_

_There’s not the slightest trace,_

_Of anything that even hints at kindness,”_ Connor sang, and Arthur noticed that the crew had begun to lip sync along with him, and gesturing their arms in time with the music and lyrics.

Across the stage, he could see that the crew on stage left were doing the same thing, and that Merlin had joined in with him, pretending to sing with Lance and Percy. Noticing that Arthur was watching with his mouth wide open, Merlin raised an eyebrow to challenge him.

“No way,” Arthur mouthed to him.

Merlin raised his other eyebrow, tapping his foot impatiently, just waiting for Arthur join in.

Arthur rolled his eyes, but before he knew it Leon had grabbed him by the shoulders and was lip syncing dramatically.

_“Hopeless,_

_As my dream dies,_

_As the time flies,_

_Love a lost illusion…”_

Arthur looked over to Merlin for help, but he was far too distracted by Percy and Lance who were all lip syncing dramatically at each other.

“You’ve got to embrace it, Arthur. This is what we do backstage,” Leon whispered.

“Lip sync to all the songs?” Arthur asked incredulously.

“Oh, that’s only the beginning. It’s a dance off, against them,” he explained, pointing to stage left where they were starting to get into it.

“A dance off!?” Arthur hissed.

But Leon was no longer paying attention. He had moved closer to the wings and was joining in with the dramatic dancing that had begun.

_“No beauty could move me,_

_No goodness improve me,_

_No power on Earth, if I can’t love her,”_ the song continued. A kind of interpretive dance broke out among the crew.

Arthur was feeling rather uncomfortable and awkward, but there was one tiny part of him that wanted to lip sync along. This was one of his favourite songs, after all. It was highly emotional and dramatic, and that tugged at him.

_“Long ago I should have seen,_

_All the things I could have been,_

_Careless and unthinking, I moved onward…”_ Connor sang, and this time Arthur actually joined in with the spectacle. There was something rather…freeing about it. It was a dramatic song and very fun to get into. And it didn’t even matter if his dancing was shit, because it was all about expressing the emotion of the song.

Before he even realised it, he was joining in with Leon and the other student’s crazy dance moves.

_“No pain could be deeper,_

_No life could be cheaper…”_ Connor continued as the interpretive dance intensified between the two groups. The song was reaching the incredibly dramatic climax and things were beginning to build up as the arm movements got bigger and the lip syncing more passionate. They all looked over at the stage left crew, trying to out-dance them by making their moves bigger and more overdramatic. They were determined to prove that stage left were inferior to stage right’s dancing. They would win!

_“If I can’t love her,_

_Let the world be done, with, me!”_ the song reached its pinnacle and as it did, many of the crew, including Arthur, dropped to their knees and poured out their final passion into the last moments of the dramatic song.

As soon as it ended, Arthur stood up, wiping the sweat off his brow. Leon was grinning at him.

“You enjoyed that far more than I expected,” he commented.

Arthur just smiled, shrugged, and left backstage to find Merlin and get ready for Act 2.

“Now wasn’t that just a great stress reliever?” Merlin asked, slightly panting from passionately interpretively dancing.

“Alright, you win in that respect. But stage right totally kicked stage left’s arse,” Arthur grinned.

“Oi! They did not,” Merlin retorted, sounding offended. “You didn’t even join in until halfway through!”

“I didn’t even need to start from the beginning to beat you, that just proves how great we are,” Arthur sniffed.

“Pfft, yeah right it does. But hey, that was fun, right?”

He nodded.

“Good. I was thinking we should go back again for ‘Human Again’ and ‘Maison Des Lunes’. They’re good crew dance numbers as well,” Merlin said, and Arthur grinned. Much to his surprise, he actually couldn’t wait.

\---

Arthur couldn’t quite believe he had been so against this whole dancing thing before. It was honestly the most fun he’s ever had backstage during a show. For ‘Human Again’, the crew tried their hardest to copy the dance moves that the chorus was doing on stage (and looked completely unflattering while doing it). ‘Maison Des Lunes’ was another fun dance off one. It wasn’t as emotionally dramatic, but the crew had fun trying to dance as crazily as they could. They bobbed up and down in time to the music and each other, shimmied, and jumped around as Gaston and LeFou hatched their evil plan with Monsieur D’Arque. Even some of the cast that were waiting backstage joined in, with Joanna losing some of the feathers from her ‘Babette’ costume because her moves were so over-the-top. Once the song was over, Arthur walked over to one of the angled wing partitions and leant against it to catch his breath. That one had really taken it out of him!

Across the stage he could see Merlin grinning at him. He too had been joining in with the crew on the other side of the stage and had been having a ball.

Very quickly the stage went dark and the crew began to move around in a flurry for the next scene change. Lauren came into the right side stage, looking all dolled up in the classic golden gown that Belle is so famously known for wearing. As soon as they set change is done, she walks out onto the stage for the dinner scene and the classic song, ‘[Beauty and the Beast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFEP5yUFAMk&list=PLA8VHLKYzqTsJHFPIYgDgLm8V7cFW5ctk&index=18)’.

Though Arthur hadn’t planned to stay backstage after ‘Maison Des Lunes’, there was something tugging at him, telling him to watch the next scene play out from side stage. Mrs Potts and Chip both walked out, and soon enough Arthur could hear the number starting up in the band. This was another one of his favourite songs from the musical, and Miranda always sang it so beautifully, even if she was a little unwell at the moment.

From across the stage, he looked over to stage left to see Percy and Lance slow dancing as a joke while Merlin looked on, rather entertained by the spectacle. Arthur looked to his right to see some of the crew trying to learn how to waltz with one another. It was rather amusing, watching them step on each other’s feet.

When he looked up, he saw Merlin looking at him with an intense gaze. Arthur immediately felt his face heat up and was glad that side stage was both dark and distant. Merlin gave him a soft smile, which Arthur returned.

Merlin was perfectly lit by the dim, blue light that was used side stage during the performances. It created a halo around his head, and highlighted his strong cheekbones. In the midst of it all, his eyes seemed to…glow.

At that moment, Merlin seemed to raise an eyebrow in confusion, and Arthur realised he had been staring, instantly flicking his eyes to the performance, embarrassed to have been caught.

_“Tale as old as time,_

_true as it can be,_

_barely even friends,_

_then somebody bends, unexpectedly,”_ she sang. Though Arthur watched the performance, he couldn’t help but feel slightly distracted, his eyes continually flicking back to where Merlin stood. He was just so enticing, so ethereal in the blue light, Arthur just couldn’t keep his eyes off of him.

Forcing his eyes back to the performance, Arthur watched as the Beast and Belle started their waltz. When he glanced back to Merlin, he was met by his gaze once again. But this time, Arthur would continue to hold it, unable to look away not even to watch the performance they had been working so hard on for months.

It hit Arthur hard; how much he wanted Merlin. He would never have seen it coming, given he despised the man only a few months ago. But he just couldn’t help it. He now understood why he was regarded so fondly among the rest of their colleagues, he was just so friendly and lovely and easy to be around. Not to mention that he was insanely good looking and talented.

As the waltzing continued, Arthur couldn’t help but wish he could have something like that with Merlin. Yes, he wanted to _waltz_ with him. So many of his relationships had been about nothing more than a quick shag, maybe even a few dates with no real end goal in mind. But with Merlin…he wanted something serious. He had even thought about what it would be like to settle down with the man. (God, since when had he become so soppy? Guess that’s what romantic musicals do to you…)

For that entire time, Merlin had continued to look right back at Arthur, an unreadable expression on his face. Regardless, Arthur’s heart jumped in hope. The fact that Merlin was still looking…surely that meant something?

As the song came to a close, both men looked away from one another, watching as the song ended and the next scene began. Realising that the mob scene and battle were to happen soon, Arthur decided it would be best to move out of side stage to avoid creating extra chaos for the chorus.

Merlin had the same idea, and they met back in the PAC seating. This time, instead of the jokes about the dancing, there was an awkward silence between them as they did their work and pretended that nothing had happened. But there had been a moment, there was no denying that. So what did it mean?

\---

As it had come to be in these kinds of situations, Arthur called Morgana that evening.

“Brother dearest,” she greeted him.

“Morgana, I-“

“If this is about the intense eye sex you and Merlin had during one of the soppy love songs at rehearsal, I already know about it,” she told him, sounding bored.

“How!?” he squawked.

“Leon, Lance, and Percy all messaged me about it. But I must inform you, Arthur, eye sex doesn’t count as actual sex, so you really haven’t resolved the unbearable sexual tension between you two,” she said.

“Oh, shut it, I didn’t call you to have you be all patronising,” he grumbled.

“Then why did you call me?” she asked.

He hesitated. “I think…that the ‘eye sex’ as you call it, was a kind of moment between us.”

“You think??? Of course it was a moment between you two! At this point I’m wondering whether you’re both deliberately trying to be thick,” she exclaimed.

“So you think I should go for it?” he asked quietly.

“Yes, Arthur, you should. Honestly, what is actually holding you back? You’re a grown man, Arthur, you can go after him if you wanted to. And if you ask me, he likes you just as much as you like him, and if you would both just stop being stubborn idiots for one second, maybe you would actually-“

“Goodbye, Morgana,” he sighed, cutting off her rant and hanging up.

Deep down, Arthur knew he should tell Merlin. But he didn’t think he could handle it if he was to be rejected, and that was all that was stopping him.

\---

Monday rehearsal went past in a fast paced blur. The first half of the day was still not quite going as smoothly as Arthur wanted it to and it was making him restless. At one point, he even ran out of post-it notes and started running around in a panic looking for more.

“Merlin, do you have any post-it’s?” he asked.

“I gave all of mine to you, remember?” he replied, rolling his eyes at Arthur’s overdramatic panic.

“Oh God, this can’t be happening…” he groaned, running his fingers through his hair.

“You know you can just use good ol’ fashioned paper, right?” Merlin pointed out.

“It’s not the same!” Arthur shouted. Merlin backed away from him fairly quickly after that.

However, something seemed to click during the second half of the day. The show finally come together smoothly, with everyone working together like a well oiled machine. The battle scene was finally being done at the correct pacing, the smoke machine was perfectly timed, the sets were moving smoothly as well. Even both Lauren _and_ Joanna had perfected the part of Belle. The occasional tech slip up would happen, but other than that it was finally all working out. Arthur was very relieved (although still stressed about his lack of post it’s).

“You’re completely ridiculous,” Merlin rolled his eyes, but handed him a stack of post it notes that afternoon.

“Perhaps, but you love me for it,” Arthur teased, thrilled that he had his post it’s back.

“God help me, I do,” Merlin grumbled, and then froze.

Arthur’s heart skipped a beat. Did…did Merlin just say what he thought he said? Merlin was still frozen to the spot, mouth wide open in slight shock and his cheeks and the tip of his ears bright red. Arthur felt himself blush as well, unsure as to where to go next in the situation.

“MERRRRRLINNNNNN!” a shrill voice cut through the ~~unresolved sexual tension~~ awkward moment.

“What the hell did you do to upset Morgana? She adores you,” Arthur asked, finally able to breath again.

Merlin’s eyes flicked down to Arthur’s hands, and back up again. “You see, those post-it notes may have been taken from a certain art department…”

With the sound of her stomping down the stairs, Merlin immediately flashed Arthur a sheepish grin. “I think that’s my cue to exit,” he said quickly, running for the door.

As soon as Morgana appeared around the corner, Arthur thrust his hands behind his back, hiding the evidence.

“Where did he go?” she asked with a great deal of ferocity.

“Where did who go?” Arthur replied, feigning innocence.

She pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you dare play the fool with me, Arthur. I know Merlin stole my post-it’s, and he’s a dead man for it,” she snapped.

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” he shrugged, trying to stand taller to tower over her.

She just glared at him, eyeing the fact that his hands were behind his back.

“Just this once,” she hissed, so that only Arthur could hear. “I will spare him. But only because you’re oh so fond of him and I expect him at family breakfast one of these days.”

With a huff, she stomped off without so much as a second glance.

Arthur let out a sigh of relief. He did not enjoy dealing with his half sister when she was in a bad mood.

“Is she gone?” Merlin asked, peeking out from some hidden corner.

“Yep, she’s gone.”

Merlin walked up to him and tutted. “What is about you Pendragon’s and your post-it notes?”

Arthur just shrugged, but his mind wasn’t on that. It was on the fact that Merlin had braved _Morgana_ , just to please and appease him. And that thought made his heart jump.

\---

The time had really flown.

Tonight was opening night.

All throughout the day Arthur was jittery, nervous and on edge. He was unable to keep still and would jump if anyone even slightly took him by surprise. For some reason, he had also decided that extra coffee would help with the fact that he’d had a restless night, but instead the caffeine had wound him up further, making him even more shaky and restless.

Not only was tonight opening night, but his father was to be attending. His verdict was everything, and Arthur could only hope that nothing would go seriously wrong during the show.

He hadn’t seen Merlin at all today, and wondered if he was just as nervous too. Did Merlin even get nervous? After all, he’s done lots of plays and shows, including the fucking Sound of Music. Surely by now he’d be used to it…

“I can hear you thinking,” Lance told him from across the prep room.

Arthur just scowled.

“The show looks great, Arthur. You needn’t worry,” he continued.

“Says you,” he grumbled in reply.

Lance chose to ignore it. “Gwen says hello, by the way. She’s very excited to come and see the musical later this week.”

“How is she? And little Zara?”

Only a few weeks ago Gwen had had her beautiful daughter, and just at the mention of her name Arthur could tell Lance was mooning over it.

“They’re both very well. Gwen is a little unsure about having to leave Zara for one evening with her mother, but she should be okay.”

Arthur smiled. “I’m sure. I’m looking forward to seeing her, and for her to see the musical.”

“Yes, yes,” he nodded. “She’s delighted. She’s even more delighted about the fact that you and Merlin get on rather spectacularly,” he commented.

Arthur clenched his jaw. “Oh? And does Gwen have any further comments on this topic?”

Lance hesitated, but spoke anyway. “She believes that you two would make a great couple?”

Arthur sighed. All of a sudden he wasn’t looking forward to seeing her, especially because he knew Gwen and the second she saw him and Merlin getting along, she would coo.

“Is now a bad time to mention that she’s coming to see the musical with Morgana?”

Arthur groaned.

\---

Arthur couldn’t stop tapping his pen on his desk, trying to focus on the marking in front of him. Yet, his mind (and eyes) would wander to the musical, specifically the view toward the PAC. Out the front were some tables set up to feed dinner to all of those involved. It was easier rather than sending them home each day after school to allow them to stay on and feed them, ensuring less stress for all involved.

“Why are you hiding out here?” a voice from the door made him jump.

Arthur just shrugged. “I dunno.”

Merlin walked toward him. “You’re going to have to face the ‘music-al’ eventually.” Then he cracked up, laughing hard. “Get it? Instead of face the music, face the ‘musical’? Because it’s a musical?” He continued to laugh as though there was no tomorrow with Arthur looking on, simultaneously groaning internally at the bad joke and feeling confused as to how he came to love _this_ man so much.

When Merlin soon realised Arthur wasn’t laughing, the tips of his ears went red as he cleared his throat and said, “Never mind. Just trying to lighten the mood.”

Arthur gave him a soft smile, acknowledging the effort.

“I know that you’re worried because your father is attending tonight,” he continued, leaning against Arthur’s desk.

He gulped, the thought coming to the front of his mind in full frontal force.

“If it makes you feel any better, Gaius is bringing him and attending as well. He’s in many ways my adoptive father, _and_ he used to teach drama here. We’re both facing some high standards tonight.”

Arthur looked up at him. “I guess.”

“What I’m trying to say is that if we’re going to come under scrutiny, it’ll be the both of us, not just you, or me. You’re not alone, Arthur. We’ll face it together, no matter what,” he told him softly, gently placing his arm on Arthur’s shoulder. The touch made Arthur’s heart flutter.

“I know. Thank you, Merlin,” he replied.

“That’s ok. Now, are you coming or not? They’re about to serve dinner and I’m starved,” he moaned, dragging Arthur to his feet. It would seem he would have no choice in the matter.

“Ok, ok, I’m coming. Just one question.”

“What?”

“How is it that you go from telling dumb jokes, to being almost…wise, and then back to your silly self again?”

Merlin rolled his eyes, amused. “Talent, Arthur. Pure talent. Criticise it all you like, but deep down I know you’re in awe,” he teased.

Arthur chuckled. Merlin didn’t have to know that his words had more truth to them than he realised.

\---

6:55. The doors were to open in 5 minutes.

Arthur was pacing up the top of the PAC, behind the doors, anxious about the first show. Merlin had gone backstage; he was doing the warm-up and motivational speech with the cast and crew. It was right about now that he could use a motivational speech from Merlin. No, actually, he needed more than that. A hug, a comforting hand to hold, a shoulder to lean on, maybe even a kiss that would lead to something more-

“Are we good to open the doors, sir?” one of the young usher’s asked Arthur.

“Yes. Yes, of course.” Good God, where did those 5 minutes go?

As soon as the doors opened, the first people through were his father and Gaius.

“Ah, Arthur,” Uther greeted him. He looked a lot better ever since he had left Arthur’s and began living with Gaius.

“Hello father, Gaius. Merlin is just backstage at the moment, but he’ll speak to you later,” Arthur addressed Gaius, who nodded and smiled.

“You’ve done well, my boy. I’m sure you’ll make me proud,” Uther said, clapping a hand on Arthur’s shoulder. All he could do was nod, and pray that he would do so.

10 minutes later, as the PAC had already been half filled, Merlin came and joined him.

“Where are they?” he asked, and Arthur instantly pointed to the seats right in the middle where Gaius and Uther were both sitting, having a conversation with one another.

Merlin smiled. “I’ll be right back,” he said, heading down the aisle to speak to him.

Arthur watched him go and felt as a kind of calm washed over him. _Merlin_ was here now, and somehow that made everything better. Because no matter what happened, he wasn’t alone in this.

Soon enough, Merlin joined him again.

“How’s the cast and crew?” he asked.

Merlin took in a deep breath. “They’re ok. They’re nervous, which is normal, but I trust that they’ll do fine. No matter what happens tonight, Arthur, it will be fine, I promise.”

Arthur forced a smile onto his face to reassure Merlin that he was ok. It was going to be ok.

Then the lights went down and Arthur suddenly wasn’t so sure.

But the prologue went smoothly, the choreography and voiceover all perfectly timed. The chorus delivered wonderfully during ‘Belle’, as did Lauren. Michael and Nathan as Gaston and LeFou played off each other brilliantly, their unique dynamic gaining a lot of laughter from the audience.

It was only once ‘Me’ had finished that Arthur realised how tightly he was gripping the arms of the chairs. He felt himself relax, all tension leaving his body. Next to him, Merlin continued to engage with the musical, laughing and humming along, enjoying himself.

Naturally, it wasn’t all perfect. The sets coming on for the castle were slightly sloppy, but Dan and Jamie as Lumiere and Cogsworth made up for it, with their funny and clever bromance. Before he knew it, the Beast’s song was playing and then it was the end of Act 1.

“We made it through the first act,” Arthur breathed, turning to Merlin who was beaming.

“Indeed we did.”

Both men decided to avoid the two critics during the intermission, opting instead for hiding out in the top box and finding out how things were going.

“We’ve had a couple of shaky microphone moments, but so far we’ve managed to get through it without many complications,” they were told.

The twenty minutes went by rather quickly, and so they returned to their seats for the second act. The ‘Maison Des Lunes’ was performed rather brilliantly, as was ‘Human Again’.

When ‘Beauty and the Beast’ started up, Arthur instantly thought of the moment that him and Merlin had shared from across the wings. (It was absolutely a moment, he had decided, and NOT eye sex as Morgana believed). Before he could stop himself, he had turned his head to look at Merlin sitting next to him, looking rather enthralled with the performance. Arthur couldn’t help but grin at just how…beautiful he looked in the dim light, the emotions on his face so pure. It took a lot of effort to look away.

The mob and battle scene went smoothly much to Arthur’s relief. The fight scene worked rather well, and the transformation went off without a hitch. Before he knew it, the bows were happening and everyone was applauding and cheering.

“We did it,” Merlin said to him over the loud applause.

“Yeah. Yeah, we did,” Arthur smiled.

\---

Once the majority of the crowd had cleared out, minus those who had their children performing, Uther and Gaius finally approached Merlin and Arthur.

“I can’t read the expressions on their faces. I don’t know what this means,” Arthur hissed, beginning to panic.

“Well, Gaius doesn’t have an eyebrow raised, which is always a good sign,” Merlin whispered back.

“Well, son,” Uther said as he stood in front of both of them. “Well done. I’m proud of you. _Both_ of you,” he emphasised, pointedly looking at Merlin who offered a small smile.

“Really?” Arthur asked, feeling slightly faint.

Uther nodded, and even let a smile slip. “Indeed. I dare say this is one of the best productions I’ve seen Camelot put on.”

“Thank you,” he replied, wanting to pinch himself. Surely, this was a dream.

Uther walked off to talk to some parents, leaving them to squirm under Gaius’ intense gaze.

“I must say I’m surprised you two managed to pull off such a charming musical, seeing as you hated one another from day one,” he commented.

“Er, yeah, well…” Merlin trailed off, unable to explain.

Unexpectedly, Gaius grinned. “Well done, boys. You’ve made us and Camelot proud.” With that, he walked away too, joining Uther.

Arthur turned to Merlin, smiling so widely he was sure he looked beyond ridiculous. Merlin beamed back at him.

“It seems like this is quite the success,” Merlin chuckled.

Arthur could only nod.

“For what it’s worth, Arthur-I know your father’s approval means everything to you. That he placed certain expectations on you, that he wanted you to make him proud. But know that regardless of his opinion, whether the outcome had been bad-I’m…I’m proud. Of us,” he told him, looking down shyly.

Arthur took in a deep breath, deciding that just this once he wanted to be honest. “My father’s approval does mean a lot to me. But yours-well, that means even more,” he said, nudging him gently.

The tips of Merlin’s ears went red, and Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle.

\---

The next night, Gwaine came to see the show. He was delighted by how well his trucks worked for the sets, and was ecstatic when Merlin said that they would use them again for future plays and musicals because of how fantastic they were.

For the most part, the show went smoothly. Unfortunately, there were a few microphone issues, with some failing during the show. Gaston and Monsieur D’Arque lost battery, while Cogsworth’s microphone had accidentally been on mute. However, the show went on as smoothly as it could.

As ‘Beauty and the Beast’ played during the second performance, Arthur found himself watching Merlin once again, and fell a little more in love with him.

\---

The third night was Morgana, Gwen, and Lance as well, who had decided to come with Gwen to the show and had given his backstage post to Gwaine for the night. (Arthur couldn’t help but think that if anything went seriously wrong tonight, Gwaine was most certainly to blame).

Rather than sitting in some empty seats toward the back of the PAC, the two director’s joined the three friends and colleagues for this show. The married couple sat together and Morgana sat next to them on their right. Merlin sat down next to her and Arthur was next to him. It was interesting to be able to watch their reactions to the show. Lance laughed at any of the bad jokes and humour, Morgana would continue to squeal over how good the sets looked, and Gwen would cry at anything even remotely sad (which was almost every number during the musical).

This time when Arthur turned to look at Merlin during ‘Beauty and the Beast’, Morgana caught him and began smirking at him. Scowling, he looked away and avoided looking to the right after that, in fear of Morgana continuing to mock him through her smirking.

Once the show had finished, Gwen squealed and threw herself into both of their arms.

“I’m so proud of you two!” she exclaimed. “I knew you two would work amazingly well together! This show has turned out completely spectacularly and I cannot be more impressed!”

Arthur and Merlin glanced at one another, sharing a quick smile. “Thanks, Gwen. We’re so glad you loved it!” Merlin grinned.

“So, what’s the deal with you two? Are you finally dating?” she asked, watching them expectantly. Instantly the mood changed, becoming rather awkward.

“Er, no, we’re not, why would you think that?” Arthur chuckled awkwardly, trying to brush it off.

That was when Morgana decided to pipe up. “I don’t know, might have had something to do with the cow eyes you were giving Merlin during ‘Beauty-‘”

“OK, that’s enough! Let’s get some cool air, shall we?” Arthur interrupted, cutting Morgana off with a pointed glare. She just raised an eyebrow, challenging him.

Thankfully, Merlin didn’t press on the matter, brushing over it all together. Though he was relieved, he was slightly disappointed, wishing Merlin would make the first move.

As they moved outside, Merlin vanished to the top box to find out how everything went technically. The discussion very quickly moved to Lance and Gwen’s bundle of joy, whom they both gushed about. Merlin joined them, a bemused expression on his face.

“What happened? Was everything tech wise ok? It seemed ok to me, for the most part, but it’s not like they can control the smoke machine,” Arthur rambled.

“No, everything’s fine, it’s just…apparently things got a little wild backstage.”

“Wild?” Arthur questioned him.

“Yeah, apparently the dance off with Gwaine led to something a little more…heated, involving Percy and-“

“Wait, wait, do I want to know?” Arthur interrupted, holding a hand up. This didn’t sound good.

“Er, probably not, given that teacher’s fraternising with one another when students are around isn’t-“

“Ok, I think I’ve heard enough!” Arthur squeaked.

Merlin just shrugged. “As long as Uther doesn’t hear of it, then that’s that. They can date if they should choose, but it must stay strictly off of the school premises,” Merlin explained, even though Arthur knew this rule very well.

“Yes, of course,” he muttered, turning away. Unfortunately, Morgana caught his eye, raising him (another) eyebrow in challenge. Arthur just shook his head no. Morgana rolled her eyes, and walked away.

As Gwen continued to babble to Merlin about Zara, Arthur was far away, thinking long and hard, about the fact that he would lose something that could be so great if he never went for Merlin. The thought scared him, just as much as rejection did, and Arthur was definitely at a loss as to what he should do.

\---

Thursday night was the night Merlin’s mother, Hunith, was to attend.

When it had previously been Arthur who was nervous, this time it was Merlin pacing around, biting his nails and continuing to fidget.

“What if she hates it?” he asked in a moment of panic.

“She won’t hate it, Merlin,” Arthur sighed.

“But what if it doesn’t meet her expectations?”

“She’ll just be proud that you co-directed a musical, then.”

Merlin glared at him. “You’re no help,” he grumbled, going back to his pacing.

Arthur moved forward, grabbing his arm to stop him from moving.

“Remember what you said to me on opening night?” he asked, challenging him.

Merlin looked thoughtful, then shrugged. “Nope, I don’t,” he lied, trying to pull against Arthur so he could pace.

“You told me that I wasn’t alone? That we were in this together? And that no matter what my father had said, you were still proud of us, of what we had achieved,” he told him. “The same applies to you, you know. No matter what your mother thinks, though I dare say it won’t be bad, I’m proud that we’ve accomplished this.”

Merlin just smiled.

When Hunith finally arrived, Merlin told him that he was planning to sit with his mother, and that he hoped that was ok.

“Oh, uh, yeah, of course! You should sit with your mum, I’ll be fine,” Arthur told him, trying to be nonchalant.

When he found a seat at the back to watch the show, he couldn’t help but feel rather lonely. Merlin’s company had been wonderful and comforting during the shows, and he missed it.

During ‘Beauty and the Beast’, Arthur’s eyes were trained on where Merlin was sitting with Hunith. He wished that he was sitting with them.

Once the show was over, Arthur waited at the top of the stairs so that Merlin and Hunith would join him. When he did see them coming up, she was beaming and chatting excitedly with her son, who looked completely delighted.

“Ah, mum, this is Arthur, the other director,” Merlin introduced him when they got to the top of the stairs.

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Arthur said politely, offering a hand to shake. She took it, smiling.

“Oh, so you’re Arthur? My son mentions you all the time!”

Arthur blushed at that. “Oh, does he?” he asked, trying to be casual and a little bit smug.

“Ah, no, I don’t, mum, stop talking,” Merlin said through clenched teeth.

She nodded. “Oh yes, Arthur, all good things I can assure you. He’s talked about-“

“Stuff relating to the musical and what a pleasure it has been to work with you,” Merlin cut in smoothly. Arthur was disappointed, really wanting to know what Merlin had actually said about him to his _mother_ , of all people.

“Well, you two should both be proud of what you have accomplished. It was wonderful, truly,” she smiled.

Merlin beamed, and Arthur was glad for him that he got his mother’s approval.

“Mr Emrys? Can you come here for a second?” one of the boys from the top box called to Merlin. Merlin nodded, quickly kissed his mother on the cheek, said he’ll be back and left, leaving Hunith and Arthur to their own devices.

“Your son is lovely, Mrs Emrys,” Arthur told her.

“Oh, dear, just Hunith will do. And thank you, he is a darling. As are you, it would seem,” she added slyly.

Arthur blushed, now under the scrutiny of his love interest’s mother. “Oh, uh, I’m not so sure about that-“

“He’s very fond of you, my Merlin. Always has good things to say about you,” she smiled. “Not to mention that I haven’t seen him so happy since about…last November. You’re doing him a world of good,” she commented.

“Uh, thank you,” Arthur said, just as Merlin came back out.

“Sorry about that, what did I miss?” he asked, looking a little worried.

“Oh, nothing dear, I was just telling Arthur some of my favourite parts of the musical,” she told him.

“Oh. Right. Well, anyway, we’d best be off. I’ll see you tomorrow, Arthur,” Merlin smiled, and with that they left.

On the previous nights, the two men had locked the PAC up together. Now, it was just Arthur doing it on his own, and he had never felt the absence so strongly.

\---

It felt strange, having closing night on the weekend. Arthur missed the school routine that preceded the musical night, it just didn’t feel quite right.

At around three, when he left to go into Camelot, Arthur remembered he had forgotten something very important and swore. Quickly, he rang Morgana.

“Please don’t tell me you’re having another crisis over your feelings for Merlin,” she drawled as soon as she picked up the phone.

“No, it’s not that. I-bugger…I forgot to get Merlin some thank you gifts for closing night! Do you think you could pick up a bottle of wine? And nothing cheap,” he requested.

“For you, brother dearest, always,” she sighed.

“Oh, thank you! I’ll pay you back, I promise,” he said, quickly signing off and jumping in his car to go to the school.

Merlin arrived not long after he did, and soon they settled into a conversation about what the next musical should be.

“Legally Blonde would be a fantastic choice,” Merlin said.

“Hmm, I think I’d like to see The Sound of Music,” Arthur teased, mulling over the idea.

“As much as that would be a wonderful musical to do, it doesn’t have much of a chorus,” he pointed out.

“I suppose you’re right. What about…Annie?” he hummed.

“Perhaps. Or Grease?” Merlin suggested.

“Grease was done many years ago.”

“Oh. Oh, I know! The Addams Family! That’s a great musical, large chorus, would be easy to do…” Merlin trailed off, thinking about what it would be like for Camelot to put on.

“That would be rather good-“ Arthur started, but was cut off by the noise of boisterous students coming into the PAC for the last show.

“I guess it’s time,” Merlin sighed.

“Yep. Time to face the ‘music-al’ for the last time,” Arthur joked. Merlin looked shocked.

“You stole my pun,” he accused him.

“It’s a very good pun,” Arthur replied, trying to wind him up.

“You didn’t even laugh at it!” he argued.

Arthur flashed him a teasing smile and left the room to deal with the students who had arrived.

“Arthur?” Merlin called after him.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t forget to tell them about the meeting post-performance. We’re doing all our thank you’s.”

“I won’t.”

\---

Ten minutes to doors opening, and Merlin was backstage doing the warm-up with the cast and crew. Arthur paced around, waiting for Morgana to show up with the gifts for Merlin. Finally, she texted him, saying she was at the side door to the music department, and he went to let her in.

She greeted him from behind an expensive, nice looking bottle of red wine and a beautiful bouquet of mixed flowers. Wait. Flowers???

“What is the meaning of this?” Arthur hissed, pointed to the bouquet.

She just tutted. “I can’t even get a little gratitude out of you, can I?”

“Not until you explain why you got flowers for me to give to Merlin!”

Morgana just shrugged. “I often see director’s getting flowers as thank-you’s, I thought this would be a nice extra on top of the wine.”

“He’s a man, Morgana. I don’t think he’ll appreciate flowers,” Arthur grumbled.

“This is Merlin we’re talking about, so of course he will. It’s a nice gesture. And because they’re from you? He’ll definitely appreciate them.”

Something seemed to click in Arthur’s head. “Are you the bloody harpy responsible for the Valentine’s Day roses?”

She bit her lip. “Uh…maybe?”

He smacked her lightly on the arm. “I can’t believe you! That rose gave me so much hope, and then I thought Merlin had someone else who liked him,” he exclaimed.

“Yes, well, I wasn’t sure if you were actually going to send Merlin a rose, given the fact that you are directly related to Uther and one of the most emotionally stunted men I know. But you must know, I didn’t send _you_ a rose,” she added.

“You…didn’t?”

She shook her head. Arthur felt slightly weak at the knees. Could it have been...?

They quickly hid the gifts and headed to front of house where Merlin was already waiting.

“Hello Morgana, have you come to see the show again?”

She considered it for a moment, then shook her head. “Oh, no, I’d best not. Two’s a company, it’s your night and you should have it,” she said, hinting at something more.

“Fair enough. See you next week, then,” he smiled.

Once she left, Merlin turned to Arthur. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

\---

The musical almost went smoothly. There was one issue when Gaston’s mic stopped working halfway through 'Me', but everything else was practically perfect. Arthur couldn’t be happier.

When ‘Beauty and the Beast’ played, Arthur looked to Merlin, the last time he would be able to do it during this song, and during the musical that they put together. He almost wished that Merlin would look back.

\---

When the show finished and the cast came out to do their bows, the whole audience gave a standing ovation. Merlin and Arthur also stood up, grinning at each other, delighted. Everything went well, and Arthur could feel himself properly relaxing since he started directing the show with Merlin.

“We did it,” he whispered.

“Yeah, we did.”

As soon as the house lights went up, both men instantly headed for backstage to have the meeting. They knew the cast and crew would be buzzing to leave, especially as there had been talk over the past few weeks of an after-party.

When they arrived, most of them were already dressed and ready to go.

“Ahem, can I get everyone’s attention?” Arthur shouted over the excited chatter of the students. Instantly, they went quiet and came over to where Arthur and Merlin were both standing.

“We just want to thank all of you for the commitment, time and effort that every single one of you put into this musical.” Before he could finish, they were all cheering. “Everything we’ve heard has been nothing but good. Headmaster Pendragon was highly impressed with the production, as were many of the teacher’s and parents who came to see the show. We cannot express our gratitude enough to all of you who have made such a sacrifice in order to contribute.

“Did you have anything else to say, Emrys?” he asked, looking directly at Merlin.

“Er, nothing that you haven’t already said, just thank you so very much! You’ve all made my first musical directorial debut a wonderful experience, and I have enjoyed working with all of you. It’s been a real pleasure.”

They all cheered again. Then Lauren and Joanna came to the front.

“We just want to thank you both as well, because you also put in a lot of time to get it looking as good as it did. You helped motivate us and continued to smile even through the tough times, and we cannot thank you enough for your dedication to the musical,” Lauren said, and Joanna handed each of them a box of chocolates.

“Aww, thank you!” Merlin grinned.

“Give me a tick, I’ll be right back,” Arthur announced, putting down the box of chocolates to go and get the wine and flowers for Merlin.

“Same here,” Merlin muttered, rushing out of the room.

He grabbed the wine and flowers from where Morgana and him had hid them and raced back to the green room. He flung the flowers and wine behind his back so Merlin wouldn’t see them. Merlin arrived seconds later, taking a similar stance as Arthur.

“You go first,” he said, placing his stuff down to the side.

“Alright well, I guess this is my thanks to you, for putting up with me as co-director during this musical. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for your help. Regardless of our interesting beginning, I have enjoyed every single day of working with you,” he smiled at Merlin, blushing slightly. “And, uh, these,” he flung out the wine and flowers from behind his back, “are for you.”

Merlin looked surprised at the flowers, but took them anyway. “Thank you Arthur, these are beautiful.”

“You’re welcome,” Arthur replied, feeling shy.

“I didn’t get you flowers, but rather something I think you’d prefer more. And this time not from Morgana’s desk,” he joked, handing Arthur a bottle of nice white wine and a huge stack of post-it notes. “I am grateful that you let me crash your beloved musical and have my input. And yes, despite the interesting beginning, it was a wonderful experience and I look forward to more of it in the future. So, thanks,” he said, and the cast and crew all applauded the sweet exchange.

Merlin opened his arms and raised an eyebrow, suggesting a hug.

“Oh, why not,” Arthur muttered, smiling and hugging him. There were more cheers as they hugged, and then the scrambling of students who moved in to smother them in a huge group hug.

“I wasn’t expecting this to go the way it did,” Merlin mumbled, squished up against Arthur and their students.

“Neither,” Arthur breathed, just enjoying being in Merlin’s arms for once, even if they were being crowded by their students.

Once the meeting was over, and a few of the students came and spoke to the two directors to give their own personal thanks, it was time to lock up. Everyone had left rather quickly, audience and cast and crew alike, leaving just the two men to do the final lockup.

It was bittersweet, Arthur thought. Yes, it was over which was probably a good thing. But like always, he was going to miss it.

He expressed this to Merlin as they locked up the last door of the PAC, the entrance to the drama department. In one hand he held the bouquet from Arthur, and fiddled with his keys in the other.

“I’m going to miss it. The hard work, the auditions, the stress-“

“The meltdown?”

“Maybe not the meltdown…” Arthur mumbled, embarrassed.

Merlin chuckled.

“But I’ll miss the craziness, watching the musical coming together.” He paused. “Seeing you,” he added.

Merlin stopped fiddling with the lock, turning to look at him. Arthur bit his lip and looked down, waiting for the moment of rejection.

It didn’t come.

Instead, Merlin reeled him in and pressed his lips against Arthur’s.

Arthur melted under the kiss. Merlin’s lips were soft and lush and he couldn’t help but deepen the kiss, running his tongue along the seam of his lips to gain entrance. He tasted faintly of chocolate (most likely what he was given by the students) and all Arthur’s mind could think was how he wanted more, more, _more_.

He clutched at Merlin’s jacket, pushing him until his back was against the door. Between them he could feel the bouquet being crushed by the way they were desperate to press up against one another. Merlin responded eagerly to Arthur's enthusiasm, running his hand through Arthur’s hair and kissing him with fervent passion.

Arthur eventually regained some self control in order to pull away (although needing to properly breath also helped).

“God,” he sighed, resting his forehead against Merlin’s.

“Can’t believe you’ve liked me so long or I would’ve done that sooner,” Merlin panted, leaning against the door.

“Same here.”

“We’re both idiots, aren’t we?” he asked.

“Yep. And right about now Morgana is crowing over us,” Arthur muttered.

“Fuck that,” was his response and suddenly he was dragging Arthur into another passionate, heated kiss.

Once they pulled away again, they can’t help but grin ridiculously at each other.

“You know what we should do?” Merlin said.

“What?”

“Well, seeing as our cast and crew are celebrating right now, I thought maybe you’d like to come to mine for our own _after-party_ ,” Merlin said seductively, and then threw in a wink.

Arthur just barked out a laugh, making Merlin pout.

“Oh, so my puns aren’t funny but my attempts at being seductive are?” he asked, offended.

Arthur chuckled. “Your attempts at seduction are so fucking lame.” Merlin looked rather put out, so Arthur changed tact.

“But, I love you anyway,” he offered, bringing a smile to Merlin’s face.

“Hell yeah, you do,” he smirked, grabbing Arthur by the hand and leading him to his car.

Perhaps the musical was over, but the love of Arthur and Merlin was only just beginning.

 

 _Two lives have begun now_  
_Two hearts become one now_  
_One passion, one dream_  
_One thing forever true_  
_I love you…_

_Certain as the sun,_

_Rising in the east,_

_Tale as old as time,_

_Song as old as rhyme,_

_Beauty and the Beast_

_Tale as old as time,_

_Song as old as rhyme,_

_Beauty and the Beast._

 

END. (sort of).  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU FOR READING! Kudos and comments welcome :D  
> check out the epilogue as well, it's short and sweet ;)


	8. REPRISE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All good musicals have a reprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the short little epilogue! Really hope you like it :D

THE NEXT MORNING

In Arthur’s mind’s eye, he had always thought that the first morning of waking up with Merlin in the same bed would be soft, and easy, and content. Merlin would be awake first, of course, being the bloody morning person that he is, and then Arthur would not be so far afterwards. They would stare into each other’s eyes, Arthur would run his fingers through Merlin’s hair and then a bout of love making would-

_BZZZ_

_BZZZ_

Of course, if there’s anything to take from all of this, it’s that Arthur’s life never quite goes exactly as planned.

Arthur groaned as his phone continued to vibrate. Next to him, Merlin huffed.

“’ello?” he mumbled.

“Arthur, where on earth are you? I know you’re dead exhausted after the musical, but that’s why the family breakfast was turned into brunch today, just for you.”

“Wha…” he started, confused by Morgana’s prattle.

“It started at 11, and it’s been half an hour and you’re not here! Where are you?!” she shrieked into Arthur’s ear and he had to hold the phone away so as to not go deaf.

“’m busy.”

“Busy? Busy with what? Arthur, you’re always busy and you never seem to have time for anything. Yes, the musical was an exception, but this is just ridiculous-“

“Morgana. I want you to think long and hard about what you’ve been wanting me to do for the past…how long? Since bloody September of last year?”

“I’ve thought about it, and nothing comes to mind, Arthur. I don’t know what malicious-“

Swiftly, Merlin snatched Arthur’s phone from his hand and said into it, “I think he means us getting together, Morgana.”

Arthur wished he could hear her response, because just based on Merlin’s facial expressions it sounded like it was rather entertaining. She hung up very quickly after that, and Merlin dropped the phone on the bed.

“What did she say?” he asked.

Merlin smirked. “She was shocked, then relieved, then said something about me coming to family breakfast?”

“Mm, not important now,” Arthur hummed, leaning over to kiss him.

After only a chaste kiss, Merlin pulled back. “She’s been hounding you to make a move since September?” he asked, incredulous.

“S’not important,” Arthur mumbled, leaning in again but he was pushed back down by Merlin.

“So you were pining for me?” Merlin pressed, straddling him.

“Was not.”

“Sure about that?”

“Shut up, Mer-mmmph, mmmhmmm…“

And shut up they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! It is much appreciated :D xxx

**Author's Note:**

> So I thought I’d explain ‘Beauty and the Beast’ a little (as in why I’m using it in this story over any other musical!). The main reason is because I do know this musical the best; like I said in the beginning notes, I actually was part of the backstage crew for our own version, so I became very familiar with it! Secondly; the musical is a love story, which (spoilers?) ties in with what I am writing! I also thought some of the songs were appropriate and relatable to their situation (which you will hopefully see in future chapters). Also: I totally forgot this until I was listening to ‘Something There’, but Belle reads ‘King Arthur’ to the Beast! So that turned out to be a fun little easter egg. There is another 4 (planned) chapters to come which will all be released in November (at this stage), so look forward to that!  
> If you liked, kudos and comments are always appreciated xx


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